Microsoft announces "Silverlight"
** Here you go Robert. My first post was a mis-click on the publish button (too excited). As you know, we have blogging guidelines and was asked to hold on to blogging about this until tomorrow morning so I had to take it off. Makes me feel like an ass to find out that others have already blogged about it. Oh well. **
At the National Association of Broadcasters event in Las Vegas today, Microsoft will the new vision for creating, managing and experiencing content on all platforms, be it the desktop, web or mobile. Microsoft Silverlight is the new name for Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere (WPF/E). It allows developers to create and users to consume Silverlight applications on Macintosh or Windows operating systems and on multiple browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
Here are some features of Silverlight:
- Rich interactive experiences and applications on the Web
- Robust vector-based graphics and overlays
- Unmatched video and audio quality from HD to mobile
- Simple, in-place installer for Silverlight browser plug-in
- Device support
Other components of Silverlight will include updated Expression tools, a Expression Media Encoder that support WMV and VC-1 video standards. One of the things you'll quickly see is sites using Silverlight will be able to deliver 720p HD content to the masses like Soapbox / Youtube. Checkout the feature comparison chart:
|
Features/Benefits |
Silverlight |
.NET 3.0 |
Flash/Flex |
|
Rich 2D animation/graphics with audio and video |
X |
X |
X |
|
Industry standard video codec |
X |
X |
|
|
Scalable video format from HD to mobile |
X |
X |
|
|
Hardware-assisted editing and encoding solutions |
X |
X |
|
|
XML (XAML)-based presentation layer for SEO |
X |
|
|
|
Choice of standards-based and high-performance languages |
X |
X |
|
|
End-to-end server and application platform |
X |
X |
|
|
Media server licensing (unlimited bandwidth) |
$999 |
$999 |
$4500 |
|
Content access protection (DRM) |
X |
X |
|
|
Client side playlists for ad-insertion |
X |
X |
X |
|
Robust video publishing tools and 3rd party ecosystem |
X |
X |
|
|
High-performance, multi-core enabled client |
X |
X |
|
|
Scalable full screen video up to HD (720p) |
X |
X |
|
|
Native support for device-based video |
X |
X |
|
|
Offline, document support |
|
X |
|
|
Client size |
~2MB |
~50MB |
~2MB |
|
Supported operating systems |
Windows/
Mac |
Windows |
Windows/
Mac/Linux |
Here's an excerpt:
Microsoft Silverlight, Expression Media Encoder and Tarari Encoder Accelerator will be shown in Microsoft Booth SL3213, in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Microsoft’s broader development platform and additional details about Silverlight will be shared in the keynote presentation at Microsoft’s upcoming Mix07 conference, April 30 in Las Vegas.
Microsoft will also release the beta for Silverlight during the Mix07 conference. More information about the Mix07 event can be found at http://www.mix07.com.
Download the more materials here:
Fact Sheets
Microsoft Silverlight official website : http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight (not up yet, perhaps in a day or two)
