View this article at: http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/09/05/ms.ships.silverlight.10/
Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007 9:15am
MS ships Silverlight 1.0 Fl...
Microsoft has Tuesday released Silverlight 1.0, its cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering rich user experiences on the Web. Designed to compete with the nearly ubiquitous Adobe Flash, the platform leverages Windows Media Technologies to provide rich Web audio and video streaming and playback. In addition, Microsoft also promised to work with Novell Inc. to deliver Silverlight support for Linux and rolled out a host of partner initiatives -- ranging from content delivery networks to design agencies to complete solution providers -- to help grow the adoption of the fledgling technology. Microsoft said that the Silverlight Partner Initiative has already signed up more than 35 companies to support Silverlight and take advantage of marketing and technical benefits offered by the software-giant.

"Our expectations for compelling, immersive experiences on the Web are increasing daily," said Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect. "With today's release of Silverlight 1.0, we're making it possible for developers and designers to deliver to individuals the kind of high-def experiences they crave by integrating data and services in rich and unique ways. Silverlight will further accelerate the growth in rich interactive applications by giving developers and designers new options for delivering great experiences that span the Web, PC, phone and other devices."

Silverlight comes to Linux via Mono's .NET project

Microsoft said it will collaborate with Novell on Moonlight, a new initiative is based on the Mono project to bring .NET to other platforms, including Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, Windows, and Unix. Microsoft said is committed to ensuring that organizations have the best tools and resources to begin building Silverlight-based solutions with the broadest possible reach.

"The decision to work with Novell to offer Silverlight support for the Linux platform is in direct response to customer feedback," the company said. "Both companies are optimistic about the impact this extended partnership will have in the industry."

Microsoft will showcase both Silverlight and its new Microsoft Expression Encoder 1.0 (formerly Expression Media Encoder) for encoding, enhancing and publish rich media content to Silverlight at IBC2007 in Amsterdam, which takes places from Sept. 7–11.