Microsoft’s strategy around Silverlight and later HTML5 has continually evolved since the introduction of Silverlight in 2007. Initially positioned as a direct competitor to Adobe Systems’ Flash technology, Silverlight further evolved into an application framework and tool for creating and delivering rich Web experiences and became a key tool for developing Windows Phone applications.
PDC
During Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2010 last October, Microsoft began to shed more light on the direction the company was taking with Silverlight and HTML5, which caused a ripple of concern in the Microsoft developer community. This April 4 post expands on the guidance former Microsoft Server & Tools President Bob Muglia gave last year.
Wait For Launch
According to reports, work on Silverlight for the console has been underway for some time. Support was supposedly geared up for a debut during the special Silverlight 5 preview event back in December 2010, but Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s .NET Developer Platform, chose to hold off on the Xbox 360 details until next week’s conference where Guthrie is slated to make a keynote presentation.
Play Across Three Platforms
Bringing Silverlight to the console means gamers can play each other across all three platforms. But Silverlight support isn’t defined by gaming alone– it also means developers can create apps across all three platforms, allowing Xbox 360 owners to download and install applications much like they would on a Windows Phone 7 device. In fact, there’s talk that Microsoft may be planning to launch its own App Marketplace so that developers can scale their Windows Phone 7 apps for the console’s higher screen resolution (720p or 1080p, take your pick).
New Features
Silverlight 5 brings a wealth of new features to programmers: hardware-accelerated video playback for better performance and battery-life preservation; hardware-accelerated 3D graphics; crisper text with advanced formatting; remote-control support; faster start-up; 64-bit browser support; the ability to run Silverlight programs outside the browser; and new digital rights management abilities.
