Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

Microsoft Flips the Switch on Silverlight 3

By
Microsoft Flips the Switch on Silverlight 3

Microsoft has formally released Silverlight 3, the latest version of its interactive technology which is often described as the company’s direct competitor to Adobe Flash, but might be better viewed as a development platform that also competes with the likes of Adobe Air, JavaFX, and even efforts like Google Gears. Silverlight 3 beefs up the technology’s support for streaming high-definition video by offering direct support for available GPUs, supporting H.264/Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) Audio, and a new stutter-free “Smooth Streaming” feature when used in conjunction with Microsoft’s IIS 7 server.

Microsoft also launched Expression 3, a new version of its Silverlight development tools so programmers and application developers can dive into building Silverlight-enabled sites and applications. Among recent converts to Silverlight are NBC Sports, Continental Airlines, and MGM’s upcoming sci-fi television show SGU: Stargate: Universe.

“In a record amount of time, we’ve gone from being the industry newcomer to achieving a remarkable rate of industry adoption, rapidly delivering capabilities such as SketchFlow and IIS Smooth Streaming that are unmatched by other vendors,” said corporate VP for Microsoft’s .NET platform Scott Guthrie, in a statement. “With more than 6 million developers with .NET programming skills worldwide and a platform that delivers a rich user experience at some of the lowest costs possible, Silverlight ubiquity is a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if.'”

Related

Microsoft says Silverlight 2, which launched in October 2008, is available on one in three Internet-connected computers.

Silverlight 3 also offers developers a bundle of new graphics and hardware-accelerated animation features, support for deep linking (so developers can offer URLs which connect to specific content within a Silverlight site, as well as support for search engine optimization, improved data support, and all-around performance improvements. And with Silverlight 3, the technology is no longer confined to a Web browser: Silverlight applications can now be run right on users’ desktops without a separate runtime application or plug-in.

The Silverlight 3 plug-in is free, and available for Windows XP/Vista and Windows 7 and Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X 10.4.8 or newer.

Editors’ Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Stop using these default Mac apps — trust me
A person using a MacBook Air connected to two monitors.

Apple makes a huge variety of its own Mac apps, and some of them are among the best Mac apps you can get. The problem is that while many of them are pretty excellent, that’s not the case for every last one -- some are middling while others are worth avoiding altogether.

Whatever the case, you might be looking for an alternative to Apple’s built-in Mac apps. Here, we’ve catalogued the apps we think you should replace first, and suggested which third-party apps you should swap them out for. That should bring you more features and an all-around better Mac experience.
Calculator (use PCalc instead)
The PCalc app in macOS Sonoma Digital Trends

Read more
How to choose between a MacBook and a Windows laptop
The keyboard and trackpad of the MacBook Pro.

When shopping for a new laptop one of the biggest decisions you'll make is choosing between MacBooks or Windows laptops. And it's not always an easy decision. New advances in chip technology are propelling even entry-level MacBooks to high-performance targets, and a shift in Windows laptops away from cheap plastics evens the playing field between these two platforms. Both Windows 11 and macOS are intuitive and clean operating systems. But where they differ comes down to one key element: their ecosystems.

What this means for you is that choosing an option from a list of the best laptops isn't so simple. The laptop you choose today can greatly influence which accessories you buy, which apps you use, and even what kind of phone you carry. Your entire workflow will depend on the platform you go with, from how you manage windows to which keyboard shortcuts work best. It's not a light decision.

Read more