With a compelling list of features and a full breadth of tools, Silverlight offers numerous possibilities that enable truly immersive experiences on the Web.  Distinctive features that empower designers and developers include:
  1. Compelling Cross-Platform User Experiences

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.  The Silverlight runtime is a quick, easy download for both Windows and Macintosh OS.  It currently includes support for all modern browsers, including IE, Firefox, and Safari.

  1. Flexible Programming Model

Silverlight offers a flexible programming model that supports AJAX, VB, C#, Python, and Ruby, and integrates with existing Web applications.

  1. Role-Specific Collaboration Tools

A broad range of tools include Silverlight design and development capabilities. Developers can take advantage of a full-powered integrated development environment, such as the next version of Visual Studio codename “Orcas”. 
Expression Studio is a suite of professional design tools that unleashes creative ideas and helps deliver superior quality on the Web. 
Combined with Visual Studio’s superior support for XML, ASP.NET and XHTML, Designers and developers can collaborate more effectively to deliver solutions on the Web.

  1. High Quality Media, Low Cost Delivery

Silverlight supports full-screen 720p video and offers seamless transitions between full-screen and windowed mode without losing your position in the video.  Furthermore, the new IIS7 Media Pack can be leveraged to enable bit-rate throttling to lower cost for downloaded media.

  1. Connected to Data, Servers, and Services

Silverlight blends together Web and video standards and unified media formats for simple integration with existing Web technologies and assets.  It’s capable of working with any back-end Web platform technology and integrates with your existing infrastructure and applications, including Apache, PHP, and more on the server, as well as JavaScript, XHTML and others on the client.

  1. Integration with HTML

Every XAML element can be accessed or manipulated from the same client-side JavaScript that would be used to interact with any DHTML element. Even overlaying HTML elements on top of Silverlight content is possible.

  1. Client and Server Agnostic

There's no difference between the Macintosh and PC runtimes and you do not require Microsoft software on the server.  Delivering a great Silverlight experience is possible from Apache / Linux servers to a Mac OS 10.4 client.

  1. Full Runtime Interactivity

The contents of the XAML file can be server-generated to contain information populated from a database. From JavaScript, a method can be called to add or remove elements dynamically at runtime.

  1. Option to Embed or Separate Markup (XAML)

XAML can be embedded directly within an HTML file or can be kept separately to enforce delineation between different web development roles.

  1. Complimentary Technology to WPF and ASP.NET AJAX

Based on the .NET Framework, Silverlight enables designers and developers to easily use existing skills and tools to deliver stunning vector-based graphics, media, text, animation and overlays within new or existing Web applications. It also integrates seamlessly with ASP.NET AJAX, and provides a continuum from ASP.NET AJAX for Standards-Based Websites to Silverlight for Rich Interactive Applications to WFP for Connected Desktop Applications.