Microsoft has announced the availability of Silverlight 2, the company’s answer to Adobe Flash for videos in a web browser. The company says the new version offers “new features and tools that enable designers and developers to better collaborate while creating more accessible, more discoverable and more secure user experiences”.
Microsoft has also announced further support of open source communities by funding advanced Silverlight development capabilities with the Eclipse Foundation’s integrated development environment (IDE) and by providing new controls to developers with the Silverlight Control Pack (SCP) under the Microsoft Permissive Licence.
The company statement continues to mention that the new Silverlight 2 features include .NET framework support with a rich base class library; powerful built-in controls such as DataGrid, ListBox, Slider, ScrollViewer and Calendar controls; advanced skinning and templating support; deep zoom; comprehensive networking support; expanded .NET Framework language support; advanced content protection; improved server scalability; vibrant partner ecosystem; and cross-platform and cross-browser support.
