Sliverlight Squares up to Flash

April 17, 2007: Taking a swipe at Adobe’s Flash, Microsoft is showing off its new cross-browser, cross-platform next generation media plug-in that it says marks a step forward in rich interactive web application delivery.

Announced at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas on April 16, Silverlight (previously sporting the catchy name Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere) is built on Microsoft’s .net framework and according to the Redmond provides a unified approach the creation of graphics, documents and media for the web.

Microsoft says that Silverlight enables developers and designers to use existing skills and tools to create media experiences and rich interactive web applications with developer tools such as Microsoft Expression Studio and Visual Studio.

“Content providers are seeking a way to deliver rich interactive applications using the tools and skills they already have,” says Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “Silverlight is the only solution in the market today that enables content creators to tap into the broad ecosystem for Windows Media technologies while taking the Web’s rich interactive application experience to new levels.”

With Silverlight, Microsoft is shooting to and to ensure it captures as much of the market as possible, it has made the new software seamlessly compatible with both Windows and Macintosh, plus the Firefox and Safari browsers along side Internet Explorer.

Whether or not Silverlight can give Flash a run for its money is yet to be seen, however, with supporters such as Akamai Technologies, Limelight Networks, Netflix and Pinnacle Systems among others, the software could indeed mark an interesting step forward for the market.

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