Back at the beginning of November, we reported that Microsoft might be slowly stopping the development of its Silverlight product after its next update. Well, that update has now arrived in the form of the Silverlight 5 plugin update. However, no official statements have been released by Microsoft, unveiling whether or not they will be continuing the development of their Silverlight product.
The Future of Silverlight
Multiple sources started the rumors and suggested to the CNET website that Microsoft may follow along the same lines as Adobe has with their mobile Flash player and scrap any further development of their Silverlight software after the release of Silverlight 5. This speculation has led to a lot of discussions within the developer community about the future of Silverlight and its place in the evolving landscape of web technologies.
Silverlight was initially launched by Microsoft in 2007 as a powerful tool for building rich internet applications, similar to Adobe Flash. It was designed to work across multiple browsers and operating systems, providing a consistent user experience. Over the years, Silverlight gained a significant following, especially among developers who appreciated its robust features and ease of use.
Key Features of Silverlight 5
Silverlight 5 is a revised plug-in that weighs in at around 7MB in size, with new features including Hardware Decode of H.264 media, which provides a significant performance improvement with decoding of unprotected content using the GPU. This feature is particularly beneficial for applications that require high-quality video playback, as it offloads the processing from the CPU to the GPU, resulting in smoother and more efficient performance.
In addition to hardware decoding, Silverlight 5 introduced several other enhancements:
1. Improved Graphics Stack: Silverlight 5 includes support for 3D graphics, enabling developers to create more immersive and visually appealing applications. This feature leverages the power of the GPU to render complex 3D scenes with high performance.
2. Text Improvements: The new text rendering engine in Silverlight 5 offers better clarity and readability, especially for small fonts. This is crucial for applications that display a lot of text, such as news readers or document viewers.
3. Remote Control Support: Silverlight 5 added support for remote controls, making it easier to develop applications for set-top boxes and other media devices. This feature opens up new possibilities for interactive TV applications and other home entertainment solutions.
4. P/Invoke: This feature allows Silverlight applications to call native code libraries, providing greater flexibility and enabling developers to leverage existing codebases. This is particularly useful for applications that require low-level system access or need to integrate with other software components.
Despite these advancements, the future of Silverlight remains uncertain. The rise of HTML5 and other modern web technologies has led many developers to shift their focus away from plug-in-based solutions. HTML5 offers many of the same capabilities as Silverlight, such as video playback, graphics rendering, and interactivity, but without the need for additional plug-ins. This has made HTML5 a more attractive option for many developers and organizations.
Moreover, major browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been phasing out support for plug-ins, further diminishing the relevance of technologies like Silverlight. As a result, many developers are now looking to transition their existing Silverlight applications to HTML5 or other modern frameworks.
In conclusion, while Silverlight 5 brings several notable improvements and features, its long-term viability is in question. The shift towards HTML5 and the declining support for plug-ins in modern browsers suggest that Silverlight’s days may be numbered. Developers who have invested in Silverlight should start exploring alternative technologies to future-proof their applications.
Source: Hot Hardware
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