Silverlight's link to Microsoft developer skills touted

Software developer iBloks, which works with advertisers, provides a 3D platform that leverages Silverlight. 

"Really, Microsoft's technology with Windows Presentation Foundation and now with Silverlight is allowing us to really leverage not just the connectivity of broadband but the power of the graphics chip to create incredibly beautiful ads and interactive experiences," said Julia Miller, founder, CEO and president of iBloks. iBloks also outputs to other technologies, such as Google Gadgets and Flash, but considers Silverlight the best scenario, she said.

An Adobe official questioned the notion that Silverlight offers an advantage by leveraging .Net development skills.

"Well, that’s kind of like saying that the nice thing about Flex and Flash is that it lets you build great rich internet experiences without having to learn .Net," said Ben Forta, Adobe director of platform evangelism. "Obviously, whether you are trying to learn Flash/Flex or Silverlight, you are going to have to learn the platform."

For coders, Flex requires no more than learning XML tags and ActionScript to deliver applications that run on more than 98 percent of desktops, taking advantage of Flash Player, Forta said. "The fact of the matter is that Microsoft is now starting down this road with Silverlight, and the Flash platform is already tried and tested and proven and has been so for over a decade," he said

At Schematic, which has provided professional services for NBC pertaining to Silverlight, a company official hailed the technology's benefits but also gave a nod to the Flash platform as well.

"Silverlight is a really important enabling technology for very high-quality video experiences," said Matthew Rechs, CTO at Schematic.

Silverlight and Flash provide "different ways of achieving the same thing," Rechs said. But Flash is more widely used by designers, while Microsoft tools are better utilized by developers, he said.

Silverlight gives users "a way of making these rich media experiences that traditionally were only available using Flash," said Rechs.

Flash, he said, has had a big advantage in its market share and its success in enabling video to be watched on the Internet. Flash has been widely adopted by advertisers for bringing ad messages to Web content, said Rechs. Schematic has worked with Flash clients as well, he said.