Affinity's Bringing Its Beautiful Photo Software To Windows

Affinity has announced plans to launch its photo and design software on Windows, removing the Mac OS X tether and opening the suite up to a larger user base. The announcement was made today, but Affinity says it has been working on the project for "some time now," doing so quietly as it was uncomfortable providing a firm launch deadline. That has changed, though, and now it's official: there's a Windows Alpha build of Affinity Designer, and it'll be launching in the next couple of months.

The company also has plans to launch Affinity Photo on Windows, its Photoshop alternative that arrived last February on OS X; details on when we can expect that particular application to arrive wasn't stated, however. Affinity Designer, for those unfamiliar, is an alternative to Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape, allowing designers to create vector illustrations and other artwork.

Affinity Designer will be released first as a beta, the same thing Affinity did with the Mac version when it was released. The Windows version of the software suite will be completely compatible with the OS X version, meaning you'll be able to receive a file from your Windows coworker and open it on your Macbook sans issue. Those interested can sign up for the beta here.

Affinity offers robust software features, but does so at a relatively low price point — Photo and Designer are $49.99 USD each, much less than it would cost to buy a Photoshop license. Pricing for the Windows applications hasn't been revealed, though it will likely be the same as the OS X suite.

SOURCE: Affinity Blog