For Microsoft shops, Silverlight 2.0 trumps Flash
With the imminent release of Silverlight 2.0, developers and Web designers, particularly those already working in Microsoft IT environments, will have the first viable alternative technology to Adobe Flash for building rich Internet applications, analysts and developers said.
Microsoft first released Silverlight, a cross-browser runtime for Web-based multimedia and 3D applications, about a year ago. However, the development of the 1.0 version, like many new Microsoft products, was rushed, and not even close to the vision the company had for the product.
"[Silverlight] 1.0 was a stop-gap measure -- they were late to market and wanted to get something out there early after Adobe had done an amazing success [with Flash]," said Al Hilwa, an application development software program director for research firm IDC. But Silverlight 2.0 "is the real deal -- they've put out architecturally what they've always wanted to do," he said.
Silverlight 2.0's final release is imminent. Insiders said it could be available in a few weeks. The first release candidate for developers is already available on the Web.
It may be fair to say that Microsoft moved faster with Silverlight than it ever has to get a product in shape as a viable competitor to already-established technology. In this case, that's obviously Flash, which has enjoyed great success for years as the predominant technology for adding high-impact multimedia applications and graphics to Web sites. It was this early trend that spurred the current development of more complex Web-based and business applications that make the user experience as important as stability, security or general performance.
Though it's no match across the board for the more mature Flash technology yet, people who have used early versions of Silverlight 2.0 said Microsoft indeed has made great strides with the technology.
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Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
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Bad comparison for data driven web applications
Almost everyone knows (except Fred Gerantabee) if you are referring to heavy data driven application you should not be developing them in flash. That is why they came out with Flex. Yes they both use the flash player present the content but they are 2 different beasts. As a Flash/Flex dev who now develops all projects with the Flex IDE (Eclipse) and as someone who has also built custom video players for both the Flash player and the Silverlight player I do not see Microsoft taking over any of Adobes community of developers. It just takes to much code to create the same thing. What I do see is the Miscrosoft dev community embracing this new technology and beginning to build engaging rich content.