Microsoft Partners: Silverlight Party Is Just Starting

As reported by Betanews.com last week, Mark Garrett, Adobe's executive vice president and CFO, told attendees at the Thomas Weisel Partners Technology & Telecom Conference earlier this month that Silverlight's influence in the market is dwindling.

Silverlight "has really fizzled out in the last six to nine months, I'd say ... We're innovating ahead of [Microsoft], and they have not been able to catch up," Garrett reportedly said at the event.

There's some truth to his statement, but it's way too early to count Silverlight out, according to Dave Meeker, user experience strategy lead at Roundarch, a Chicago-based Web development firm that works extensively with Silverlight and Flash.

"Silverlight has dimmed a little bit, but it's not due to a lack of interest," Meeker said. "We've seen a ton of interest in Silverlight, but in the current economic climate, people are more conservative about adopting new technologies."

In fact, budgets have shrunk throughout the custom software development market, which means that Silverlight projects currently on hold will probably stay there for the foreseeable future, Meeker added.

When Microsoft launched Silverlight 1.0 in 2007, the buzz in the development community was that Microsoft hadn't done enough to make it a true competitor to Flash. But Microsoft made great strides with Silverlight 2.0, launched last September, and there's reason to believe that Silverlight 3 will do the same when Microsoft releases it later this year, Meeker said.

That, combined with more high-profile Silverlight licensing deals, will help maintain Silverlight's momentum. "Microsoft needs to continue work with blue chip clients to get apps on the market that will drive Silverlight adoption," Meeker said.

In addition to giving Silverlight developers the ability to stream binary data into Web applications with Silverlight 3, Microsoft needs to include user interface controls that are flexible and customizable, said one source who requested anonymity. Microsoft has traditionally looked to its partners for this, but developers would like to see this come from the software giant itself, the source added.

"Microsoft needs to communicate to developers about the steps necessary to build a good user experience," the source said. "Otherwise, the fear is that Microsoft developers will develop Silverlight apps that resemble Flash apps from six years ago."

Scott Stanfield, CEO of Vertigo Software, a Richmond, Calif.-based software development firm, is confident that Microsoft will make adjustments in Silverlight 3 that put it on equal footing with Adobe Flash. Stanfield says he spends considerable time and effort educating the market about the benefits of Silverlight, but believes that soon, Silverlight's merits will stand on their own.

"This is a battle I want Microsoft to join because I want there to be a discussion, and I'm looking forward to seeing the gloves come off on Microsoft's side," Stanfield said.