Microsoft will show an early version of its next-generation graphics and animation toolset at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) next week in Los Angeles, internetnews.com has learned.

The product, code-named Sparkle, is still in development and it's unclear whether it will be ready to ship with Windows Vista next year.

But industry-watchers say built-in animation and graphics tools could offer developers an alternative to Macromedia's  popular Flash MX and Director MX animation tools.

A Microsoft spokeswoman declined comment on speculation of news coming out of PDC. A Macromedia spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

"It's a good concept and the integration with Visual Studio [Microsoft's platform for designing for Windows, Web and mobile device applications] is nice," said the source, who has seen the version of Sparkle that will be unveiled at PDC.

Despite its code name, the toolset lacks polish, the source said. Still, it should be far enough along to give PDC attendees a view of the underlying concept and how it might fit in with other industry offerings.

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