A platform from Microsoft for developing rich Internet applications on Windows and Mac computers. It was designed to compete with other multimedia platforms, including Adobe Flash/Flex, JavaFX and JavaScript and to broaden the scope for .NET developers, allowing them to run their .NET programs on the Mac (and Linux via Moonlight) rather than only Windows.
Delivered as a .NET-enabled plug-in for the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari browsers, Silverlight supports animation, vector graphics, MP3 and Windows Media formats including the VC-1 video codec. Silverlight programs can be written in Visual Basic, C#, Python and Ruby.
The Windows Interface - Everywhere
Code named "Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere" (WPF/E), Silverlight is the cross platform version of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) user interface, first deployed in Windows Vista. Windows Mobile also supports Silverlight, and a Linux version is available from the Moonlight project. See VC-1, RIA, Moonlight and Windows Presentation Foundation.
Delivered as a .NET-enabled plug-in for the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari browsers, Silverlight supports animation, vector graphics, MP3 and Windows Media formats including the VC-1 video codec. Silverlight programs can be written in Visual Basic, C#, Python and Ruby.
The Windows Interface - Everywhere
Code named "Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere" (WPF/E), Silverlight is the cross platform version of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) user interface, first deployed in Windows Vista. Windows Mobile also supports Silverlight, and a Linux version is available from the Moonlight project. See VC-1, RIA, Moonlight and Windows Presentation Foundation.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- News to know: Thanksgiving tech support; Apple; Silverlight; Facebook; Black Friday
- Thanksgiving tech support, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple's non-smoking warranty, Dell and Black Friday deals are the headliners today. by Larry Dignan
- Blog posts 2009-11-25
- FlashBlock 1.2.11.4 (Windows)
- Flashblock is an extension for the Google Chrome that blocks all Flash content from loading. It then leaves placeholders on the webpage that allow you to click to download and then view the Flash content. Flashblock currently blocks Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, Macromedia Authorware and MS Silverlight.
- Software downloads 2009-11-25
- Is Google the Center of the Universe?
- Google and the universe"Say what you will about Murdoch?s empire, ethics and politics, but you can?t argue about the fact they employ over 60,000 people in an era when shedding jobs is the ?Wall Street juice? of a jobless ?recovery?."This may be true, but it is a lousy argument. We...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-24
- Can (and will) Microsoft keep Silverlight compatible across platforms?
- The better question is WHEN will it be better for Microsoft to keep it compatible across platforms, and WHEN or under what conditions might it not be better for MS to NOT keep it compatible across platforms.In other works, it is NOT a question of IF, but, at WHAT TIMES...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-24
- Can (and will) Microsoft keep Silverlight compatible across platforms?
- Microsoft is adding more and more WPF features to Silverlight and vice versa. But there is a downside to this strategy: By adding technologies like COM support to Silverlight, Microsoft is doing damage to its story that Silverlight is a cross-platform browser plug-in that supports Windows, Mac -- and, thanks...
- Blog posts 2009-11-24
- Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?
- MS is the past Google is the future so NopeGoogle is the old MS, MS is the old IBM. PC_DOS never made it, MS_DOS did. The driving factor was openness and innovation.Today and in the near future, Google has bothToday MS sees profit only and based on thatdrives...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?
- I'm not one of those ready to write Windows an RIP certificate now that Google has finally taken some of the wraps off its Chrome OS. In fact, after reading through industry watchers' questions and Google's answers about it, I'm thinking that Chrome OS may not look quite so appealing...
- Blog posts 2009-11-20
- Chrome OS will give Microsoft a run for their money
- SilverLight draws circles around Google's gimmickCompare SL's demo w/ that of ChromeOS and see it for yourself the truth: The former completely owns the latter.RE: Chrome OS will give Microsoft a run for their moneyWhat kool aid are you drinking? NOTHING is secure, and Google wants to take over everything....
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- I like itThe ChromeOS demo looked pretty cool!I'm almost 100% webapp-based already, so I could see myself using a simple, fast & no maintenance OS like that the majority of the time.I like it too, but, for me, I need to compile and run programs locally. I would imagine that...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Microsoft Silverlight 4.0 Beta (Windows)
- Silverlight 4 delivers a full suite of powerful capabilities to business application developers, bringing the best-of-breed .NET platform to browser-based experiences. Silverlight provides an ideal platform for developing and deploying modern business applications for both customer facing and staff-facing applications.
- Software downloads 2009-11-19
- Microsoft shares a few tidbits on IE9 and (lots) more on Silverlight 4
- Safari? What Safari ? :-)http://www.tgdaily.com/software-features/39495-safari-4-beta-first-browser-to-hit-100-score-in-acid3-testI know, Steve doesn't like Apple but you're supposed to be a journalist? ;-)Google chrome?IE like Microsoft is stumbling around in a new ecosystem in which spending thousands of dollars is not an option.Plus, it locks you into a insecure OS platform with...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- Microsoft shares a few tidbits on IE9 and (lots) more on Silverlight 4
- Microsoft shared some information about what's coming in Internet Explorer 9 and Silverlight 4 during its November 18 Professional Developers Conference PDC keynotes. by Mary Jo Foley
- Blog posts 2009-11-18
- Microsoft PDC Live Blog Day Two: IE, Silverlight 4.0 and more
- The biggest news here is that MS is losing its grip on developers as they are switching to programming for the web and cross platform tools.Microsoft and its future.The chief software architect not ever going to say "Mission Accomplished".Another VP of cloud at the PDC saying "I'm not going to...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- Microsoft PDC Live Blog Day Two: IE, Silverlight 4.0 and more
- The second day of keynotes at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference is about to begin, and expectations are running high that MIcrosoft might share some details on what's coming with Internet Explorer 9, Silverlight 4 and Office 2010 Beta 2 today. by Mary Jo Foley
- Blog posts 2009-11-18
- Microsoft Silverlight 4.0 beta (Mac)
- Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of Microsoft .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.
- Software downloads 2009-11-18
- Google Image Swirl: Looks neat, but useless
- I agree - SomewhatAlthough I agree that Google's Image Swirl is basically useless, I would disagree with your prosition on Bing's Visual Search. Google's offering is mainly designed as an image discovery tool, by grouping pictures of similar content or features. While its presentation may be cool, I...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-17
- Microsoft to share some details on IE 9 at PDC show this week
- Tabs that dont hang and,1. HTML 5 standards compliance ahead of Chrome and FF2. Better plugins3. CSS 3 compliance4. FASTER!Trying to develop for IE8 is still a pain!Addon supportFor things like AdBlock Plus.Also, an x64 version of silverlight.Grow upso do not read this blog - OK? Prefer Firefox but...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-17
- Adobe releases Flash, AIR betas; Gauging the potential of multi-touch on the desktop
- Not surprising ....Not surprising, considering, Silverlight already supports multi-touch, as does WPF.Silverlight has potential......but platform availability is a factor. MS need to improve that greatly if they want to take a bite out of Flash's share.Rather, catch up[i]Adobe?s platform is appealing, but it?s in a race to stay ahead...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-17
- Visifire 2.3.2 (Windows)
- Visifire gives you a set of open source data visualization components that are powered by Microsoft Silverlight and WPF. With Visifire you can create and embed visually stunning animated Silverlight Charts within minutes. Visifire is easy to use and independent of the server side technology. It can be used with...
- Software downloads 2009-11-14
- Visifire 2.3.2 (Mac)
- Visifire is a set of open source data visualization components - powered by Microsoft Silverlight. With Visifire you can create and embed visually stunning animated Silverlight Charts within minutes. Visifire is easy to use and independent of the server side technology. It can be used with ASP, ASP.Net, PHP, JSP,...
- Software downloads 2009-11-13
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