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Microsoft has released Silverlight 3, the latest version of their rich media application platform which rivals Adobe Flash. In addition, a release candidate of Expression Blend 3, the Silverlight development tooling, has also been released with a promise of the full Expression 3 family of Web development products shipping within 30 days.
You can hit the websites for Silverlight or the Expression family or the combination for much more detail, but Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie offers a succinct summary of what is new. My choices for the high points:
Silverlight 3 enables applications to run outside the browser and taken offline. Users can safely install web applications on their computers, and create persistent shortcuts to them on the desktop, start menu and taskbar (this is supported on both Windows and the Mac).
Silverlight 3 now supports hardware graphics acceleration and HD video. IIS Media Services is a free server product that complements Silverlight and provides the ability to efficiently stream media over HTTP. It enables both on-demand and live HD video to be delivered using “smooth streaming” - which is an adaptive streaming algorithm that can deliver video at bitrates optimized for a client’s network conditions and CPU capabilities.
Free download that enables Silverlight 3 development support for VS 2008 and the free Visual Web Developer 2008 Express.
The latter has the potential to really explode Silverlight adoption by placing the bar to entry very low. On the other hand, I found the IIS Media Services demo to be anything but smooth streaming.
Finally, per Scott Guthrie, "Expression Studio 3 will be included as part of the MSDN Premium and higher subscriptions (meaning MSDN Premium customers don’t have to pay anything extra to get all of the Expression Studio products). " This apparently ends the furor over whether developers with MSDN subscriptions should get access to "designer" tools as part of the subscription.
Overshadowed by the Microsoft Yahoo takeover soap opera last week, Microsoft released version 2 of its Expression Studio collection of Web tools:
Expression Encoder is new in version 2 of the Studio and among other new features, Silverlight support was added to all of the tools, and PHP and ASP.NET 3.5 support was added to Expression Web. The PHP support reflects broader aspirations than just covering the needs of captive Microsoft technology developers but it will be difficult to break the grip that Adobe Dreamweaver has on that market.
Less desirable is the perpetuation of the wacky dichotomy between Microsoft developer tools (Visual Studio) and design tools (Expression). Developers who subscribe to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) have been promised only a subset of the Expression tools and they will have to either ante up for a standalone copy or buy an Express Professional Subscription (which partially overlaps the MSDN subscription) to get the full set.
Microsoft’s MIX08 conference has come and gone, but despite the rumors of a massive Web apps push, the actuality was much more pedestrian:
While the last bullet isn’t a Web app, SQL Server Data Services is obviously a building block for constructing Web apps and could fill up some of the data centers that were also part of the rumors. The beta will be available in 3 to 4 weeks with a launch by the end of the year. Note that SSDS isn’t a full fledged hosted SQL Server or just a raw data store like Amazon’s S3. It fits in between as a simplified structured database service with the closest analog being Amazon’s simpleDB. It is early days yet, but one can’t help but wonder whether other major database vendors have the will (and the wherewithal) to join the party.
Finally, while they aren’t Web apps either, earlier last week Microsoft announced some more data center filler with the extension of their Microsoft Online Services offering of hosted versions of Exchange and SharePoint to small and mid-sized businesses.
Predictably, the press release is effusive in describing the opportunities for Microsoft partners, even those whose Exchange hosting services have been neatly undercut. The theory is that they can now sell Microsoft’s hosted service with a bunch of their own embellishments. Less happy are ISV’s who sell SharePoint add-ons that won’t appear in the Microsoft offering. There’s surely a pony in Microsoft hosting their own server applications, but it’s a low margin, capital intensive business compared to selling software.
As had been anticipated, Microsoft’s MIX07 conference brought an announcement of a variety of Web technology goodies that Microsoft is itching to get Web developers to use:
Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 beta availability. Optimized for the Web, Microsoft Silverlight enables developers and designers to easily use existing skills and Visual Studio and Expression Studio tools to deliver media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight works with any back-end Web platform or technology, seamlessly integrating with existing infrastructure and applications, including Apache and PHP, as well as JavaScript and XHTML on the client. Beta 1.0 includes a go-live license, which means customers can deploy their Silverlight applications in production. Final availability of Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 is scheduled for summer 2007.
Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha availability. Based on the .NET Framework, Silverlight 1.1 Alpha offers broader tools and language support. It enables developers to take advantage of support for powerful .NET features including ASP.NET AJAX and Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) language, with full IntelliSense editing enabled for client and server code; powerful cross-platform debugging capabilities; and rich language support for JavaScript, Visual Basic, C#, Python and Ruby.
Expression Studio now shipping. Expression Studio, Microsoft’s end-to-end tools for creative designers, boosts collaboration with developers in the delivery of next-generation user experiences for Windows, the Web and beyond.
Microsoft Silverlight Streaming. Silverlight Streaming is a new companion service for Silverlight that makes it easier for developers and designers to deliver and scale rich media as part of their Silverlight applications.
Windows Live Platform Terms of Use. Microsoft is enabling the developer community to take advantage of the Windows Live™ services infrastructure and gain access to all the APIs through a simple, consistent set of terms that address multiyear supportability, scale, cost structure and commercial use of the platform. In addition, Microsoft announced new APIs to support programmatic access to Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Messenger.
That just scratches the surface though and does not mention one of the more interesting aspects of Silverlight Streaming:
Microsoft Silverlight Streaming is a companion service for Silverlight that enables designers, developers, and content owners to deliver cross-browser, cross-platform media experiences and RIAs on the Web. All people have to do is upload Silverlight applications, including videos, photos, etc., to the Silverlight Streaming service, which then stores it on Microsoft servers, replicates it across our global delivery network and manages the delivery to Web sites. There are a number of different scenarios for this, including a basic package that features video hosting and distribution at no charge, DVD quality video streaming, and simple tools and APIs that make it easy to integrate media and share it anywhere on the Web. This ranges all the way up to a premium package that includes more professional tools and APIs, and integrated rights management and reporting.
I believe Microsoft just offered free video hosting to all takers as long as they use Silverlight. While that should certainly should be an incentive to adoption, one wonders how long it can last. On the other hand, maybe it’s the successor to the unlimited Web mail inbox and photo sharing sites.
Update: Also see Ryan Stewart’s discussion of the less than obvious aspects of the Silverlight announcement including the fact that it provides a cross platform .NET framework including the CLR (Common Language Runtime).
