The monopoly is over; it's the time of duopoly, or more
precisely, a takeover bid. Who will replace whom or whom to be replaced by
what? Don't get confused in these twists of sentences. Relax! Your queries will
be met as we move ahead. Microsoft’s latest gift in the name of Silverlight, is
all set to replace the old and traditional Adobe's Flash and become the
technology of choice for developing the next generation of cross-browser,
cross-platform Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Moreover, Microsoft has
already decided to make this plug-in freely available for all supported
platforms. This article presents an introduction to this technology, its applicability,
and its future; it also provides links and references for further insight onto
this technology.
But what exactly is this technological hype about? Moreover,
how far it will be effective for those users who play with animations,
graphics, designs, i.e., especially where the creativity matters? We will discuss
this and other related issues in the sections that follow.