Microsoft, yesterday released the third version of its rich media application platform, Silverlight 3. Microsoft Silverlight 3 is a cross-browser, cross- platform, 
and cross-device plug-in for delivering media experiences for the Web.
Microsoft’s Silverlight, the “Flash Killer”, was launched earlier this year with a beta tag and since then a lot of improvements and bug fixes have been made in the final launch.
Some of the new features of Silverlight 3 are :-
- 1. Smooth Streaming:
Its new streaming feature improves the quality of streaming video on the browser so that it compares to watching video on television. As a user, you’ll experience HD video playback of content if your bandwith is high. If a user’s bandwidth is below 3 Mbps, Smooth Streaming’s dynamic capabilities will kick in.
2. Digital Rights Management:
Silverlight 3 comes with increased protection of content for businesses using the platform to stream or publish content. Studio and content owners have greater abilities to monitor and protect content from being distributed.
3. Immersive Experiences:
Silverlight 3 comes with a few innovative capabilities for developers to harness, including th ability to have a deep zoom into images and an experience, almost making users feel like they are on a virtual ride. Silverlight 3 also has a more powerful 3-D technology.
4. Out Of The Browser:
Silverlight has been a browser based technology since its launch in 2007, but this ends with the new release. Microsoft has now given developers the ability to build applications on Silverlight that can be viewed in the browser and on the desktop.
The above mentioned are some of the features of Microsofts Silverlight 3.
For a comprehensive list visit the official page of Silverlight Here.
Personally speaking, i think Silverlight will certainly give a tough competion to Flash and AIR.
My Recommendation :- I will definately advise you to try out the Silverlight plugin. One thing i noticed while installing the plugin was the support for Chrome browser. It installed easily in Firefox 3, however chrome was not supported !!
Maybe its because of the Microsoft – Google rivalry !!!!
{ Source : TechCrunch }
