Microsoft’s cross-platform multimedia engine Silverlight 1.0 has only been shipping since September, yet they’ve gone ahead and announced the v2 beta is on the way:
Silverlight 1.0 focused on enabling rich media scenarios in a browser, and supports a JavaScript/AJAX programming model. We are shortly going to release the first public beta of Silverlight 2, which will be a major update of Silverlight that focuses on enabling Rich Internet Application (RIA) development. Silverlight 2 does not require the .NET Framework to be installed on a computer in order to run. The Silverlight setup download includes everything necessary to enable all the above features on a vanilla Mac OSX or Windows machine. The Beta1 release of Silverlight 2 is 4.3MB in size, and takes 4-10 seconds to install on a machine that doesn’t already have it.
In other Silverlight news, my pals over at jkOnTheRun noticed Silverlight is installed with Microsoft Office 2008 on OS X. (I’m still waiting for my copy…)
Why should you care? Netflix says 2008 is the year their movie streaming service comes to OS X. They currently utilize Microsoft DRM and demonstrated a Silverlight client last spring…
Comments
As a Netflix and MacBook user
As a Netflix and MacBook user, I would very much like to see a Mac client available. Honestly, the instant viewing feature with Netflix's service isn't that great... most of the movies are garbage, $1 Wal-Mart bin flicks, but hey - it's included with the service. Occasionally there's a good gem available (like the Usual Suspects or Falling Down, which are currently available on the service.)