I think this is more the next generation for a pretty under-exposed MS product from years past... ImageComposer
http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/frontpage/imagecomposer/default.asp
IC Was basically an extremely easy to use web graphics app. It didn't do anything extremely fancy, but what it did do, it did well, it did it fast and the UI was pretty intuitive. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it got the job done.
After playing with Acrylic for all of 2min, it feels like the spiritual successor to ImageComposer more than anything else. MS knows it can't break the photo manip market, what it's going for is the average user who wants web graphics but doesn't want to shell out a ton of cash for the big guns.