Microsoft Announces Silverlight

[Paul]

Yesterday we officially unveiled the name for what was previously known as the extremely catchy "WPF/e" (Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere) at the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters Conference. WPF/e is now Microsoft Silverlight.
OK, so what? Just what is Microsoft Silverlight? It's a new cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in that allows users a new and richer multimedia experience when using a Web browser (for example, it supports 720p HD media playback). Web developers targeting IE, Firefox and even Apple's Safari browser can all make use of Silverlight for a consistently amazing experience. It's also a client- and server-agnostic platform; this means that the runtimes are the same on any platform, allowing you to deliver the Silverlight experience from an Apache web server, if you like -- without requiring any MS software on the server. How's that for interoperability?
Plus, existing Windows Media-encoded content can be streamed or downloaded without the need for re-encoding.
You'll notice that the MS Silverlight Website includes demo videos and FAQ and evaluation downloads. On 30 April, just in time for MIX07, the site re-launches with a full-on Silverlight experience.
Check out Sean Alexander's demo of Silverlight over on Channel 10.
Tim Sneath has a top 10 list of reasons why you want to use Silverlight.
And saving the best for last, my former colleague from the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division, Loke Uei, shares some excellent information on Silverlight, including a comparison chart between Silverlight and .NET 3.0.
This is just the beginning -- like I said, expect to hear more at MIX07 in just a few weeks.
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