Microsoft and Adobe in Flash tech face-off

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By Stevie Smith Apr 18, 2007, 14:30 GMT

While other news today sees American software giant Microsoft preparing to hold sway against the cost-free consumer intentions of Google’s expanding Docs & Spreadsheets against its own PowerPoint application, it is also cannily positioning itself as a worthy opponent against Adobe’s hugely popular Flash technology. With the approaching beta release of Silverlight, Microsoft’s new media technology for browsers, the corporation is hoping to introduce a serious contender for Flash’s undisputed heavyweight belt. Silverlight (previously known as Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere) is being lauded by Microsoft as a Web development tool for injecting applications with creative pizzazz before applying them through a Web browser. Silverlight is expected to arrive as a 2Mb plug-in for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari, and it is also said to expand to a full-screen mode, support digital rights management (DRM) and MP3 audio, while also offering business users access to enterprise deployment tool sets for better download control. Microsoft has also claimed that while Silverlight won’t initially support 3D graphics, it will support managed code (such as C# and Visual Basic .Net), though that feature will not be available in the beta release.Yet, much like Microsoft’s late-to-the-party assault on the iPod via its much-maligned Zune media player, is Microsoft flogging a dead horse in hoping to dethrone Flash? Considering that Flash is said to be included on some 98 percent of all browsers, Silverlight is certainly facing a significantly steep uphill challenge in turning the heads of Flash-friendly Web developers.Indeed, initial reaction to Silverlight seems somewhat subdued, with Lee Brimelow, a senior design technologist at Frog Design, seemingly championing Flash as “way more powerful” when compared to Silverlight. Although Brimelow did highlight one notable advantage of using Silverlight, and that was its video function, made possible thanks to a standard video codec, which Microsoft claims renders Silverlight both faster than Flash and more monetarily efficient when it comes to streaming.Either way, the addition of a rival to Adobe’s Flash can only be good for developers as a whole. “We’re going to win either way,” commented Brimelow, regardless of any reservations he might presently have concerning Silverlight. Furthermore, the end-user will also benefit from the introduction of Silverlight and the natural reactive progression of Flash as more visually impressive Web sites become the rule rather than the exception.Microsoft’s Silverlight has already secured the participation of Web sites such as Major League Baseball (MLB), Netflix, and Universal Music, while the likes of Brightcove have intonated that they will straddle between the two development options. The beta testing stage of Silverlight is expected to emerge by the close of April, while the final version is tentatively pencilled in as for an appearance before the end of Q2 2007.

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AnonymousApr 18th, 2007 - 16:01:51

Anyone else notice that there have been mysterious problems with Flash applications not working on Internet Explorer in the past 2 weeks? And yet, they work beautifully on Mozilla Firefox on the same machines! Could those updates somehow disable features like this?

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BuddyApr 18th, 2007 - 19:06:00

Judging from Windpws Media Player and all other lame media technologies from Microsoft, I think Adobe has nothing to worry about. If Microsoft would stop focusing on controlling a user's options and rights and started giving users powerful and elegant tools, maybe then they would climb out of the hole they are in. Otherwise Microsoft will one day be irrelevent.

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Harout KaterjianApr 19th, 2007 - 06:05:31

Windows Presentation Foudnation Everywhere, now known as Silverlight, is only the tip of the iceberg. Silverlight has a bigger brother known as, you guessed it, Windows Presentation Foundation. WPF is part of a trio of technologies inside .NET Framework 3.0 that allows the developers to build software application both on your PC (a.k.a thick client, desktop application, etc...) AND on the browser in a almost-similar fashion.
Most of us who use web-apps (like email, mySpace, chat, portals, etc...) know how clunky web-apps are compared to a thick client\insaled applications.
AJAX and Flash have tried to fill that gap by bring rich functionality to the browser but they are still full of problems.
Silverlight is supposed to be the silver bullet (pun fully intended) that makes the development of web-apps as easy as the development of desktop applications.
And you know what? Given Microsoft's track record of iteratively, but relentlessly improving their product, and providing massive developer community support i think they will succeed... in another year or two!

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DAlamberApr 19th, 2007 - 09:25:51

in the name of God the lord and creator of spacetime
Why so many tries to reinvent Java? MicroJoft kicked java out some years ago and now
embraced Flash. Now they are doing the same to Falsh. Actually java at that time was
far ahead of todays .Not . I wonder why the so called free software developers are sitting
aside and only looking at this game? Are Jews also control FSF?

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