RSSNext Silverlight 2.0 beta to appear this week
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published June 3, 2008, 11:44 AM
Developers going home from TechEd 2008 in Orlando (just as the admin folks arrive for the following week's demos) could find a delightful surprise in their annual tote bags: the newest plug-in for Visual Studio.
A very brief notice appearing on the blog of Microsoft .NET developer evangelist G. Andrew Duthie early this morning confirmed news coming from Tech·Ed 2008 for Developers in Orlando: The company's corporate vice president S. Somasegar told attendees that he expects the next beta of Silverlight 2.0, the company's portable graphics platform, before the end of this week.
Though no further details were provided about the beta itself, developers expect to be able to be able to more reliably test the 2.0 edition's key enhancements -- most notably, the capability to program for the Silverlight platform using any .NET language through Visual Studio 2008. Currently, Silverlight 1.0 prefers a Web browser-centric JavaScript programming model.
Ever since the first Silverlight public betas were produced by Microsoft, there have been two actively tested versions, the second of which -- originally numbered 1.1 -- was to include full .NET support for languages such as C#. But the feature set for that second version has persistently grown, to the point where version 2.0 (as it was rechristened last November) is expected to be competitive on all fronts against Adobe's Flash platform.
Among the enhancements added to Microsoft's list has been a feature called isolated storage, which promises to enable distributed Web applications to be able to store caches of data locally on a client without having to disturb the client's local file system (a typical point of exploitation), and without having to resort to using cookies. This would help shift the balance in current Silverlight programs, moving more of the logic to the client side and giving more reason for developers to want to try using different higher-level languages.
Another feature that's a little cloudier at present, though just as intriguing, is a possible low-profile extension called Dynamic Silverlight (DSL), reportedly capable of running from a command line and consuming under one megabyte. That low-profile extension could produce some retroactive "Silverlight-enabling," if you will, of applications other than those deployed over the Web that simply need access to Windows Presentation Foundation's richer set of controls.
The experience that is Tech·Ed in Orlando has acquired a curious new European-style dot (·) between its syllables, and has also been stretched out to two weeks, the first being devoted to developer-oriented news.
2:25 pm EDT June 3, 2008 - Multiple MSDN blogs are now confirming the news of the Silverlight 2.0 beta's release this week, and are officially calling it "Beta 2" (although this is actually far from the product's second beta).
One post from British Microsoft developer Paulo Barone cautions developers that some code developed for Beta 1 will break under Beta 2. A list of suggested workarounds is expected to be posted to the Silverlight Web site, once Beta 2 itself becomes available.
We all wait for this new Silverlight 2.0 beta to appear
Mary
http://marymorgan44.blogspot.com
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|cool, something else from microsoft that i get to ignore.
silverlight is just as bad as live mesh: take existing technologies and wrap them in a bloated GUI. silverlight brings nothing new to the table, and quite frankly i cant understand how theyre passing it off as a legitimate application.
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|silverlight brings nothing new to the table
Try having a clue as to what you are talking about before posting, eh?
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|You're asking way too much man - clue bricks are in short supply.
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|Noticed that too, but I didn't know about the Flash side effect. Something must have changed in the plug-in interface between FF2/3.
FF2 seems to do it fine but the last FF3 pre-release installed itself over FF2 (uh, thanks?)
For new features/changes, see:
http://community.irritat...t-2-Beta-2-Goodies.aspx
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|If you can't handle pre-releases - why don't you piss off..?
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|:-)
Well, then again the site is called betanews and not prereleasenews...
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|Almost everything I run is a pre-release.
FF3 beta 2, released today, works fine with Silverlight 2 betas.
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|I think the one and only site using Silverlight (as an option) is Microsoft Downloads.
As a sidenote, Silverlight makes FF3 crash when attempting to browse some Flash-based sites like ubi.com (I know, you're not supposed to be able to run Silverlight on FF3, but curiosity always gets the better of a betatester).
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|" cautions developers that some code developed for Beta 1 will break under Beta 2..."
Microsoft wouldn't have it any other way.
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|If you can't handle betas - why don't you piss off..?
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|You are right. How dare I make a comment using the comment button?
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|...and how dare he respond to it using the reply button.
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|(·)
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|but really, you act like stupid boy...
it is normal in any software developement that as time goes, things are improving thus API is changing...
you throw some unecessary things out, you make some things more easy to do and so on... I never experienced a beta project where it wouldn't be like that (and if it would be steady - it is a sign of really BAD thinking without a progress).
so it is just normal that your old code that using the "older" API will break
and that is only about an API, think about any other changes to platform (.NET 3.5 SP1)...
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|Roses are red
silverlight is blue
but what sliverlight 2.0 can do?
I still don't have a clue...lol...
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|Not that I mind the sudden increase of poets in this forum. But I am slightly worried that hormones got into the drinking water supply again...
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|"it must have gotten to you, for you to reply to this post" piss...off...
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|Indeed. Life is about harmony and balance...
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|LECTER IS NOT GREAT ENGLISH+OVERITE, POSSECTION
OF WINSONAR2002 UPLOADER8 IS DUTYOVER@
@CRICKET REFORM, SEE SUN TZE INCLINE.
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|Is anyone even using 1.0? I have never had the "honor" of using yet another crappy MS technology. That is why I am typing this on my Linux machine. Faster and safer.
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|Now that was really evil of you...
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|Not really even worth the bite.
El Dingo could have done far better. ;)
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|In a moment of boredom I was merely intrigued by the childish post in combination with the poster's name... mjm isn't doing too bad either further up.
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|Yep, that's a decent one.
Still waiting for El Dingo though. His insights in Silverlight topics are almost always highly entertaining. ;)
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|And in the darkness there came a glow,
softly, silently and slow.
It drew our eyes on
a gentle gleem upon the horizon.
Brighter it became, and strong it grew,
Faster and faster it came and it flew.
Until we could see perfectly clear
without horror without fear.
A SilverLight came upon us this day
to chase the horror and Flash away.
Finally a tool that could make the web sing
it was what was needed it was just the thing.
Our web apps will be more like they're real,
with look and behaviors and especially feel.
Now the air is clear and the 'Light is good,
and all the developers will use it, just like they should.
* I'll be here all week *
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|You're in the wrong forum.
Creativity is down the hall on your left. This is Abuse. ;)
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|I just don't trust Microsoft to keep their promise of keeping Silverlight available across multiple platforms. Currently they only support Windows XP/Vista and MacOS X. Moonlight is available for Linux/Unix but is still in alpha state.
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