There's an interesting article here:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Micr...to_Web_develop
ment_with_Volta/1197045064
Microsoft and Adobe are both trying to position
themselves to be in control in an Internet future
that they imagine will be populated by lucrative,
interactive web services and "rich internet applications".
It's what Steve Ballmer refers to as "software AND service,
as opposed to "Software As A Service". In other words,
"If people are going to start using software online then
let's make sure they're locked into Windows while they
do it." (Microsoft is naturally trying to "leverage" their
Windows monopoly while Adobe tries to exploit their
already-widespread infestation of the Internet with their
semi-proprietary file formats.)
Adobe has Flex and AIR. MS has Silverlight and
Volta. "They're neck and neck, with Google coming
up on the outside."
So far Microsoft has made a deal with MLB.com, in
an attempt to get the Silverlight runtime widely
distributed so that they can then get developers to
take it seriously. From what I've read, even after slogging
through the almost unreadable marketing lingo that
always litters any Microsoft docs, ("media experiences
and rich interactive applications" ... blah, blah, blah)
no one seems to be too sure exactly what these new
products are. I suspect that both Adobe and MS are
probably trying to "hold their cards close to their chest"
and be prepared to shift direction as needed, as they
both compete in a forum of uncertain parameters that
doesn't quite exist as yet.
> Crossposted; two groups, config & customize.
>
> Has anyone heard of this "Silverlight" Microsoft mentions in its latest
> newsletter? I went to the site, but all I could find there were
> attempts to ram it down my pipeline to my hard drive and nothing of any
> real indication of what it is. From what little I could glean from the
> forum it's not for me but I'm still curious.
>
> And also, will this be one of those things they toss at us as a
> "important required update"? If so I'd better be able to recofnize it
> when it shows up in the Custom Installs mode. Having no idea what it
> is, I don't want it; development kit OR just the browser version.
>
> TIA,
>
> Pop`
>
>