This week, I've been playing more with the graphics features of PowerPoint 2007 and have begun the realize it is much better than I had previously imagined.

A visual will make this very clear. Below is a comparison of the Microsoft.com homepage last night and a version constructed with PowerPoint 2007.

Here is a link to the PPTX file: DemoPresentation-2007-03-17.pptx

Interesting facts:

• the PPTX file does not use *ANY* bitmaps
• The size of the PPTX file is over 1MB only because of the embedded fonts, without embedded fonts it is about 170K

Here is the original IE7 screenshot (click for full image)

And here is the screenshot from PowerPoint 2007 (click for full image)

My notes:

• Matching the original colors took some time. I used Hypersnap 6 to find the original colors. Typing the colors into into the PowerPoint UI was tedious. Handling gradient stops was cumbersome.
• Was not satisfied with the look of the 3 slices of 3D "glass" used for  media player. I want this look as an "out-of-the-box" style in the next version of PowerPoint.
• Not enough control over the origin of the radial gradient used for the OneCare circle.
• Need a "glass effect" in the next version.