Silverlight introduction

An Overview of Silverlight

Silverlight enables development of the next generation of Microsoft .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web. Silverlight is delivered as a cross-platform and cross-browser plug-in that exposes a programming framework and features that are a subset of the .NET Framework and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

Support

The industry has been abuzz about Silverlight since the beginning of 2007 when Microsoft began demonstrating its power at developer conferences. In fact, no other development technology has been so highly anticipated since the arrival of the .NET Framework and Silverlight resources and examples abound on the Web. To spark developer interest in Silverlight, Microsoft launched several community Web sites dedicated to Silverlight development including the Silverlight home page (http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight) and the Silverlight.net community Web site (http://silverlight.net).

Early Adopters

In response to the overwhelming developer community anticipation for the arrival of Silverlight, many developers and companies have become early adopters of the technology.

Some example sites are listed below:

• World Series of Poker
• Discovery Channel
• The Emmys
• Home Shopping Network (HSN)
• World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
• Fox
• XBOX 360
• Netflix - uses Silverlight to allow subscribers to instantly watch movies on their PCs or Intel-based Macs.

Many of the published early adopter applications are featured in the Silverlight.net showcase.