Silverlight, WTF?

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web. – Microsoft

They just don’t seem to get it! Microsoft has released Silverlight as a rival to Adobe Flash, yet I can’t help but feel this product is doomed. I went over to the Silverlight microsite this morning to see what all the buzz was about. My dismay started immediately when I couldn’t watch the video on my Mac, but wait, isn’t this supposed to be a cross-platform / cross-browser product. Then why can’t I learn about it on my Mac?

I’m sort of used to this kind of thing from Microsoft so I went over to my XP machine and IE7 locked up on me when I went to the site. Next, I tried Firefox 2.0 on the PC and I could finally see the video. Given the fact they made me work so hard to see this video, it better be worth it…. but it wasn’t.

The video shows impressive visualization but I finished the video only more confused then when I first visited the site. Is this tool a video editing tool? Does it do 3D visualization like Anark Studio? Is it a 100% clone of Flash?

God, I wish Microsoft would innovate something worthwhile or at the very least if they are going to rip off rival products then at least make them better!