Should You Consider Using Microsoft Silverlight
In October, Microsoft released version 2.0 of Silverlight. This may leave you with a few questions. What is Silverlight, and do I need to invest in this technology?
Microsoft Silverlight is a web browser plug-in that can be programmed to deliver rich Internet applications. Its features include audio and video playback, animation and vector graphics to name a few. The latest version incorporates .NET development tools and support for .NET languages.
There are some advantages to using Silverlight as your rich Internet application platform.
Silverlight can support multiple operating systems, including Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. There are even third-party solutions in the works that will allow support for Linux. One of its specialties is the ability to develop cross-platform content. This includes mobile devices with Windows Mobile 6 and Symbian, as well as numerous popular web browsers. This eliminates the need to start from scratch with each platform.
If your website is already utilizing Microsoft .NET technology, your development staff will find an adjustment to Silverlight rather simple. Silverlight can be developed directly in Visual Studio 2008 using familiar languages such as C#, Visual Basic or JavaScript.
While the cross-platform support combined with solid development technology alone may sound like a winning combination, there are several reasons you may not want to rush in immediately.
Since Silverlight is a plug-in, it must be downloaded by the user. While this may not seem like a large issue up front, many users are becoming increasingly wary of Intranet downloads due to recent security issues. Overall adoption rates have been relatively low when considering that Silverlight was first released in September, 2007. If you convert to this technology over similar rich Internet application development tools such as Flash, you run the risk of alienating a significant portion of your users. While most could theoretically add the plug-in, there will be some who refuse and others who can’t since operating systems older than Windows 2000 aren’t supported.
On the other hand, Microsoft still controls nearly 85% of the desktop market. They are in a position to efficiently distribute software unlike any other vendor. Microsoft could immediately shift adoption rates by pushing Silverlight through software update channels such as Windows Update.
If you choose to invest in this technology, it is probably best to create hybrid sites until this solution achieves a higher adoption rate. No matter what you decide about Silverlight today, this technology is here to stay, and there is little doubt we will delve further into this topic in the future.
