For a decade, Adobe Flash has owned the "Rich Internet Application" (RIA) space. If you wanted video, complex animations, or a UI that didn't look like 1995, you had to use Flash. But today, Microsoft is officially entering the ring with Silverlight 1.0.
XAML and JavaScript
Silverlight 1.0 is a lightweight browser plugin (only about 2MB) that allows you to render vector graphics and high-quality video. What makes it different from Flash is the use of XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language).
In Silverlight 1.0, you define your UI in XAML and control it with JavaScript. It feels much more like "web development" than the closed, binary world of Flash's ActionScript.
<!-- A simple Silverlight button in XAML -->
<Canvas xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007">
<Rectangle Fill="Blue" Width="100" Height="30" RadiusX="5" RadiusY="5" />
<TextBlock Text="Click Me" Canvas.Left="20" Canvas.Top="5" />
</Canvas>
The video support is also top-tier, leveraging Microsoft’s VC-1 codec (the same one used in HD-DVD and Blu-ray). The quality is significantly better than the grainy FLV files we’re used to in Flash.
The .NET Promise
While version 1.0 is mostly about media and JavaScript, everyone knows what's coming next: a full version of the .NET CLR running in the browser. The idea of writing C# code that runs on both the client and the server is the "holy grail" for many enterprise developers.
Looking Ahead
Can Microsoft actually beat Adobe? It’s going to be a tough fight. Flash has 98% penetration, and Silverlight is starting at zero. But Microsoft has the advantage of the .NET ecosystem and the Visual Studio toolset. If they can make "Rich UI" development feel like "Standard" development, they have a real shot at winning over the enterprise. The "Plugin Wars" have officially begun.
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