Microsoft Silverlight 3.0 Goes Live

 

Microsoft has released the next edition of its Rich Internet Application (RIA) Silverlight for both Windows and Mac OS X systems. Version 3 of Silverlight reportedly brings more than 50 new features, all of which, Microsoft claims, will put the application in a leadership position in the market.

 

The Web application framework that is Microsoft Silverlight 3 is compatible with all the latest generation browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (naturally!) and Mozilla Firefox 3.5. Once integrated with the browser, it makes life easy for Web programmers by providing a direct path for embedding animation, vector graphics, audio and video content into Web pages.

 

Among the new features added to version 3 are included enhanced video performance and improved quality support for Visual Studio and Expression Blend. Microsoft has also boosted ease of access for Silverlight applications from the browser. GPU hardware acceleration support has also been added to the new version.

 

With a Silverlight 3 software development kit (SDK) available for download, Microsoft has taken a step towards making the application open to new developments from independent programmers. All of these innovations put Silverlight in direct contention for the preferred RIA spot alongside Adobe’s Flash technology, which has so far been the undisputed leader in its market.

 

With Adobe claiming Flash installations on nearly 95% of all PCs, Microsoft still has a long way to go before it can be considered serious competition, though it has surely made a strong start.

 

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