Microsoft has given a go-to-market name for its cross-platform, cross-browser plug-in for delivering the next generation of user experiences and rich Internet applications for the Web. The technology formerly known as WPF/E is now known as Silverlight.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2007-02-22
At least, that's the plan.
If that were the plan, wouldn't they be misserved by making Silverlight usable with Safari and Firefox?
There's an interesting quote on the Microsoft website: "[Microsoft makes] more software for the Mac than anyone other than Apple itself." Much as I don't like it, it looks like this is another 'baby step' towards being in that same position with Linux.
A few weeks ago, someone here (don't know who, there's no 'search comment' feature for non-paying users) commented that Microsoft should be moving towards a common cross-platform business, using their ability to create APIs and IDEs to sell Microsoft software to people regardless of OS. By putting out another Linux product, it looks like could be going in that direction...
Member since:2005-07-11
If that were the plan, wouldn't they be misserved by making Silverlight usable with Safari and Firefox?
You would think so, but MS's embrace/extend/extinguish strategy works slightly different than that.
A few weeks ago, someone here (don't know who, there's no 'search comment' feature for non-paying users) commented that Microsoft should be moving towards a common cross-platform business, using their ability to create APIs and IDEs to sell Microsoft software to people regardless of OS. By putting out another Linux product, it looks like could be going in that direction...
That would be interesting (and logical) but I dont see that happening with Gates/Ballmer in control of that company.
Member since:2006-01-12
There's an interesting quote on the Microsoft website: "[Microsoft makes] more software for the Mac than anyone other than Apple itself.
Let's see, there is the Office suite and ... ?! I'd venture to say that many Mac ISVs make more than 1 product for the Mac. They used to have a few more products for the Mac, but they are all discontinued one after another.
Even if you count the components of the Office suite as separate products, Adobe still makes more applications for the Mac than Microsoft.
Member since:2006-11-24
Why subvert HTML? This is a vector graphics user interface markup language that we're talking about here, not a light document markup standard.
Where I see a "subversion" of HTML by Silverlight is when it starts to compete with Flash to see who can create the largest website with an all-vector markup, as is the standard with, say, music band websites.
The problem with that is that, with so much concentration on graphics, we'll have more of those sites which are damn near impossible to navigate with your browser's "Back"/"Forward" buttons.
Plus, if there's any evidence of Microsoft spiting Desktop Linux (not server Linux) users, then this might be the first shot.
I'm hoping that SVG doesn't turn out exactly like Flash or Silverlight in their utter denial of the existence of a "navigational-through-documents" web browser.
"The web isn't a big user interface. It's a series of (text) links!"
Member since:2005-11-09
Nothing will subvert HTML. IT is too easy to write, too light and too ubiquitous to get rid of.
MS's product is going after the rich UI market on web pages... providing a highly interactive interface that is competitive with flash and ajax toolkits will be beneficial. If silverlight can beat flash in its features and platform ubiquity, then people will start using sliverlight toolkits to make UIs rather than Flash.
Personally, I think that using flash applets for specific site functions like streaming media, file uploading, etc. is as far as you should go with a flash UI. Too much and you create an unusable (but pretty) experience.
Member since:2005-08-11
"The 'Llano' processor that AMD described today in an ISSCC session is not a CPU, and it's not a GPU - instead, it's a hybrid design that the chipmaker is calling an 'application processor unit', or APU. Whatever you call it, it could well give Intel a run for its money in the laptop market, by combining a full DX11-compatible GPU with four out-of-order CPU cores on a single, 32nm processor die."
"The scuttlebutt is that IBM seemed perfectly content to wait until May to launch the Power7-based Power Systems servers, but something changed and compelled the company to move up the announcement of its first machines using the eight-core processor to today. Big Blue is not in a habit of explaining its motives or its timing for product launches, but it seems clear that IBM wanted to get out in front of a whole lot of processor and systems launches that are expected between now and the summer."
Mozilla has announced that they are going to drop support for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger definitively. "Mac OS X 10.4 was released in April of 2005 and a lot has changed since then," Josh Aas writes, "We would like to take advantage of more modern technologies on Mac OS X and 10.4 support has been a hindrance. Where we can work around supporting 10.4, doing so consumes valuable time and effort. Neither Chrome nor Safari has to deal with this."
"The ancient bug was discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy in January 2010 and involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run very old programs. Mr Ormandy has found a way to exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7. The patch for this vulnerability will appear in the February security update. Five of the vulnerabilities being patched at the same time allow attackers to effectively hijack a Windows PC and run their own programs on it."
"Today, Clang completed its first complete self-host! We built all of LLVM and Clang with Clang (over 550k lines of C++ code). The resulting binaries passed all of Clang and LLVM's regression test suites, and the Clang-built Clang could then build all of LLVM and Clang again. The third-stage Clang was also fully-functional, completing the bootstrap."
With all the virtualization schemes running on top of Linux, how do they exploit the underlying kernel for I/O virtualization? The answer is virtio, which provides an efficient abstraction for hypervisors and a common set of I/O virtualization drivers. Discover virtio, and learn why Linux will soon be the hypervisor of choice.
"The Mono Project releases the first preview of Moonlight 3.0, giving application developers a first look at the open-source implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight 3 technology for the Linux platform." Sadly, it's still Firefox-only.
"In a definitive defeat for film studios - and in a first case of its kind worldwide - Australia's Federal Court has ruled that ISPs have no obligation to act on copyright infringement notices or to disconnect subscribers after receiving multiple letters. If copyright holders want justice for illegal file-sharing, they need to start by targeting the right people: those who committed the infringement."
Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, an advocate of Web 2.0, used Twitter early Thursday to announce his resignation. He was named CEO in 2006 as Sun faced a switch in strategic direction away from proprietary systems and toward open source code, including its valued Solaris 10 operating system. "Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it", he said in a tweet to his followers, reported the New York Times on its Web site at 1:12 a.m. Thursday. He added a bit of haiku: "Financial crisis, Stalled too many customers, CEO no more.""The venerable GNU Image Manipulation Program is undergoing a significant transformation. The next major release, version 2.8, will introduce an improved user interface with an optional single-window mode. Although this update is still under heavy development, users can get an early look by compiling the latest source code of the development version from the GIMP's version control repository."
Member since:
2005-07-06
Since Microsoft has always been rather uncomfortable about Flash and its pre-installed status, they created their own version in order to try and subvert HTML and open web standards even more than they already have. Should this ever take off, the development of non-Windows version of this will be slowed down dramatically or stopped in order to try and kill the notion of the web on non-Windows platforms. At least, that's the plan.