JD on EP

The magazines tend to recognize the differences between SL 1.0 and SL 1.1, but not all have really digested the implications. Here's how I see it:

• Silverlight 1.0 is a refactoring of Windows Media Player, adding the Flash-like ability to play windowlessly within an HTML page, and integrating a graphics/text layer which can be addressed by JavaScript. It does not include all the legacy support of WMP -- some older codecs have been trimmed out, some older OS no longer supported. Silverlight 1.0 can help those who have already made significant investment in Windows Media Video content and architecture.
  
• Silverlight 1.1 will include its own logic engine, and so will be closer to the existing functionality of Adobe Flash Player. Silverlight 1.1 promises to help those who have already made significant investment in .NET architecture and habits.

Most of the magazines recognize the WMV angle, but more of them portray SL 1.0 in terms of Adobe Flash Player than in terms of Windows Media Player. Maybe the lack of a box around the video is the thing they're noticing most strongly.

One arresting fact that most of the commercial reporters skipped was the current expected date for the start of consumer distributions of Silverlight 1.1 -- some of the articles did mention the weak "maybe next summer" statements from varied MS staffers, but these articles often prefaced it with text such as "which Microsoft announced at its Mix 07 conference in May 2007".

This SL 1.1 functionality was actually announced at the prior MIX event, in March 2006, with some delivery expected towards the end of 2006. But in Dec 06 Microsoft shipped a preview of Silverlight 1.0, with increased video capabilities and without any internal logic engine at all. The MIX07 event just announced that the logic engine would be back in, for a future version called SL 1.1.

Rephrased, Microsoft announced runtime capability in March 2006, cancelled it in Dec 06, and re-announced it in May 07 for delivery in (perhaps) Summer 2008. The in-browser mini-CLR is still a year away, just as it was when WPF/e was announced 18 months ago.

This is a Vista-like schedule, or series of schedules. I didn't see any of the magazine writers pick up on this erosion of credibility.

"Silverlight vs AIR" comparisons have thankfully died down a bit (example) -- more reporters understand that Silverlight is a browser plugin, WPF is a framework, Visual Studio is a coding environment, and so on. I almost expected a new slant on the AIR angle during launch, with Microsoft announcing an easy way to make cross-platform desktop applications as well as browser applications, but not even a hint of a future announcement here yet. Maybe they're waiting for AIR to prove critical mass before announcing that they'll eventually do something like that too.

Many articles still convey mistaken scope, though... example: "Step by step, Microsoft's Silverlight is being positioned as the development and viewing alternative to Adobe's suite of products for video, animation, and rich Internet applications...."

I saw some user reaction against the default network connection to Microsoft -- some people were shocked that their betas suddenly turned into release versions, without the knowledge of the computer's owner. The lack of explicit opt-in to those invisible updates seems sort of creepy to me, but I haven't seen coordinated attention turned to the issue yet.

I saw almost no mention of Microsoft Expression Studio. This was released late last year, and should have been due for a "momentum" type of PR campaign by now. There was talk this week about Microsoft Expression Media Encoder -- logical enough for a new video plugin. There was a little about Microsoft Expression Blend, even though it's really targeted towards next year's Silverlight 1.1. But Expression Web, Expression Design, the other "MS answers to Photoshop" and such... not much attention at all. I'm guessing we'll hear more the next time there's a code-refresh.

In comments at various weblogs I saw a push by Silverlight fans, but I'm not sure how sustainable their intiative will be. Conversation at Slashdot was quite supportive of Flash (example). In the Silverlight forums .NET discussions outweigh JavaScript discussions 3:1, even though the playback engine won't be delivered until next year.

Summary: People find Silverlight easiest to understand in the context of Adobe Flash Player, but it's still a year away until it's actually a real media-and-logic plugin. There's greater awareness that next year's SL 1.1 release will help .NET shops, and it's to everyone's benefit if Microsoft can upgrade such single-brand development groups. Confusion over various aspects will likely still continue for awhile, but the trend is towards greater clarity.