You can go to Microsoft's website and find a beta download of its planned "Acrylic" program, which appears to offer direct competition to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Photoshop, which has become so popular over the years as to become part of the vernacular speech among computer users--say you are going to  "Photoshop" something and people will immediately know what you mean--is one of the keys to the Adobe kingdom. Illustrator also plays an important role in the industry and to the company.

So official news of the  Acrylic program validates remarks by Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen (pictured) earlier this year about the potential threat Microsoft poses to his company. (See http://mxdj.sys-con.com/read/78171.htm).

Acrylic is aimed squarely at Adobe's core products, letting creatives do digital painting, illustration and graphic design, and is reportedly based on technology Microsoft gained with its acquisition a couple years ago of Hong Kong-based Creature House Ltd.

According to Microsoft, Acrylic "is the codename for an innovative illustration, painting and graphics tool that provides exciting creative capabilities for designers working in print, web, video, and interactive media."