I remember the day when someone mentioned Microsoft you thought of Windows and Office and that was it. I am amazed at how many areas of technology they are in now. So many products are getting released sometimes I feel stupid because I never heard about it. Since my job often involves many different areas of technology I try to stay up on everything, but it's becoming more and more difficult. Not that I'm complaining though. I think it's great and it is a good way to find out what products work for the community vs forcing a community into using a certain technology simply because MS says so.
So I am checking out Microsoft's Expression Studio web site and lo and behold I see a slick looking logo for Microsoft Silverlight. The name alone is so "Un-Microsoft" I was immediately interested. In short Silverlight is like Flash (vector based graphics, media, and text) but with the ability to interface with all of the stuff .Net developers are used to such as C# (and I am assuming VB .Net too?), web services, as well as familiar Visual Studio and Expression Studio design support. Now here comes the pitch, Silverlight is supposed to ensure a seamless web experience for any type of browser and it is supposed to make interactive web design easier and more efficient. That's a pretty tall order considering Frontpage, Visual Studio 2005, Windows Presentation Foundation, and Expression Web are supposed to do that as well. In my experience they have all helped the development of web content but not necessarily the design. My perspective may be a little skewed though since UI design is not my strong point. However, I think that is the audience Microsoft really needs to help out; creative oafs like me. I know when I see something I like but it's the original concept that I get stuck on. Essentially, and I know this isn't very probable, I need an application that inspires an artistic progression in my mind and then makes doing all of those cool things easy. Maybe Silverlight will be the ticket?
Since Silverlight is still in beta I guess I'm not too far behind the curve on this one. If you haven't seen it check it out, it deserves a look. I was impressed with the quality and clarity of the Fox movie trailers and how fast it loaded. You may initially think, "Doesn't Flash already do all of these things?", and the answer is kind of. But Macromedia, now Adobe, never did them in a way that Microsoft followers felt comfortable with. If MS can make it easier for developers and creative teams to work together then they will have bridged a great divide.