MIX08 Announcements

Keynote with Ray Ozzie, Dean Hachamovitch, and Scott Guthrie has just finished. Wow!! There's so much excitement around connected devices, entertainment, productivity and business and lots of great announcements to digest. I list them below and we'll go in-depth for each major announcement in a future post.  This is simply to give you an overview.

Introducing... Silverlight 2 Beta 1

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

Deliver Compelling Cross-Platform Experiences: Custom branded experiences using 2D vector graphics, animation, styling, and skinning

• Highly sophisticated RIA’s across major browsers on Mac, Windows, Linux, and devices
• HD video and advanced streaming techniques for world-class media experiences
• Unparalleled interactivity with high resolution content through Deep Zoom technology

Reach Out to New Markets: Multi-channel deployment of web applications to the desktop and devices through .NET

• Monetization of media assets via protected content and advertising-enabled scenarios
• Cost effective media delivery via Windows Server
• Thriving ecosystem of .NET and Windows Media partners, developers, and applications

Increase Team Productivity and Collaboration

• Rapid development through XML-based declarative markup and a full set of controls
• Role-specific productivity tools to enhance designer--developer collaboration, with Expression Studio, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Team System
• Flexible programming model that supports JScript, C#, VB.NET, AJAX, IronPython, and IronRuby
• Easy to add richness to AJAX applications and reduce cross-browser issues

in addition, we announced the partnership with Nokia. Silverlight will be available for S60 on Symbian OS, Series 40 and Nokia Internet tablets.

Tryout...Expression Studio 2 Beta

Expression Studio 2 now supports Silverlight as a whole.

To enable designers to begin exploring the power of Silverlight 2, today we also released Expression Blend 2.5 March 2008 Preview, a pre-release of the next version of Blend (post Expression Studio 2) that will eventually ship alongside Silverlight 2. As Silverlight and other platform technologies continue to advance, we will regularly release refreshes of our developer and designer tooling.

Another very exciting news along with the release of Studio 2 beta is the Expression Community Site. From videos to starter kits, you will find training on how to use each product. See what other designers are creating and share your own work in the Expression Gallery.

And, we have the Expression Professional Subscription now for designers including Expression Studio, Visual Studio Standard, Office Standard, Office Visio Professional, Windows Vista Business Edition, Virtual PC, Parallels Desktop for Mac and more.

First Public Beta of Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 delivers significantly improved standards-support and developer platform investments with enhanced user experiences. New features in IE8 such as Activities and WebSlices will put the power of online services in the hands of users and allow developers to reach beyond the page and keep a persistent connection with their users.  IE8’s Activities and WebSlices make it possible for web sites to link directly into the web browser’s chrome or within web pages using web standards, without requiring custom toolbars or C++ code.

Sneak Preview of Microsoft SQL Server Data Services (SSDS): SSDS is a building block service designed for developers and businesses that need scalable, easily programmable, and cost-effective data storage with robust database query capabilities. This is an invite-only Beta right now.