Comments on: Where are the dope Silverlight demos? http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/ A blog about Adobe Flex Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:58:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: the rasx() context » Blog Archive » “Where are the dope Silverlight demos?” and other links… http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-123408 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:52:20 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-123408 [...] Doug McCune asks, “Where are the dope Silverlight demos?” I’m glad he went into the details of why I agree with this sentiment. The “killer app” is getting NetFlix.com going on Silverlight… Yes, there some Olympics stuff coming out but I don’t use the Olympics frequently—that “proof of concept” stuff is for the properly assimilated suits and khakis far away from a real grass-roots tech movement. [...] […] Doug McCune asks, “Where are the dope Silverlight demos?” I’m glad he went into the details of why I agree with this sentiment. The “killer app” is getting NetFlix.com going on Silverlight… Yes, there some Olympics stuff coming out but I don’t use the Olympics frequently—that “proof of concept” stuff is for the properly assimilated suits and khakis far away from a real grass-roots tech movement. […]

]]> by: Darryl Jonckheere » Blog Archive » The evolution of Flash http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-88409 Tue, 13 May 2008 03:19:31 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-88409 [...] Other modern Web development techniques like Ajax and technologies such as Silverlight (Microsoft’s supposed answer to Flash) attempt to emulate the look and feel of Flash content, but unfortunately fail valiantly for a number of reasons. Ajax is heavily constrained by cross-browser inconsistency with lack of a reliable IDE for developers while Silverlight has apparently no IDE for Mac users and therefore absolutely no chance of catching on with creatives and designers as is already becoming evident (read: Where are the dope Silverlight demos?) online. [...] […] Other modern Web development techniques like Ajax and technologies such as Silverlight (Microsoft’s supposed answer to Flash) attempt to emulate the look and feel of Flash content, but unfortunately fail valiantly for a number of reasons. Ajax is heavily constrained by cross-browser inconsistency with lack of a reliable IDE for developers while Silverlight has apparently no IDE for Mac users and therefore absolutely no chance of catching on with creatives and designers as is already becoming evident (read: Where are the dope Silverlight demos?) online. […]

]]> by: Silverlight vs. Flash - freedommoonlight http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-77482 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:23:19 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-77482 [...] Who’s going to make the race? I’ve found a well written article/review from Doug looking at a few applications created with Silverlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...] […] Who’s going to make the race? I’ve found a well written article/review from Doug looking at a few applications created with Silverlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. […]

]]> by: Mark http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-75528 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:56:41 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-75528 I'm still trying to figure out how to create a website with blend one? Oh wait a minute you can't, seems as though you need Visual studio to do that, or is it the blend beta 2 December with the Silverlight alpha 1 sdk's or the blend 2.5 beta that will expire on July 1st. I just wanted to point out that Microsoft needs to get their poop in a group and just come out with a real final release of blend for silverlight web creation. I’m still trying to figure out how to create a website with blend one? Oh wait a minute you can’t,
seems as though you need Visual studio to do that, or is it the blend beta 2 December with the
Silverlight alpha 1 sdk’s or the blend 2.5 beta that will expire on July 1st. I just wanted to point
out that Microsoft needs to get their poop in a group and just come out with a real final
release of blend for silverlight web creation.

]]> by: Rando Wiltschek http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-67662 Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:22:04 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-67662 Funny enough, Silverlight actually runs perfectly well in Opera. The only thing is that all Microsoft powered Silverlight examples have a browser check to display the "get silverlight here" button. Go ahead, compile a silverlight application and open it in Opera.. works like a charm, once the plugin is installed for IE. So all we're waiting for is an installer that can run from within Opera. Shouldn't take too long as I read it's next on the list. Funny enough, Silverlight actually runs perfectly well in Opera. The only thing is that all Microsoft powered Silverlight examples have a browser check to display the “get silverlight here” button.
Go ahead, compile a silverlight application and open it in Opera.. works like a charm, once the plugin is installed for IE.
So all we’re waiting for is an installer that can run from within Opera. Shouldn’t take too long as I read it’s next on the list.

]]> by: Daryl Ducharme http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-65012 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:18:58 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-65012 All I needed to see with Silverlight is that it didn't work with my browser of choice, Opera. So I always have to 'open in Firefox' to see the fancy Silverlight stuff. While that may be an Opera issue as much as a Microsoft issue, the Flash player ubiquity is the key, and from the comments I'm reading, player version issues as well. Of course, I'm open to learning the platform and developing on it - but probably only if it gets demanded by a client so that there is some money to back up my time. All I needed to see with Silverlight is that it didn’t work with my browser of choice, Opera. So I always have to ‘open in Firefox’ to see the fancy Silverlight stuff.

While that may be an Opera issue as much as a Microsoft issue, the Flash player ubiquity is the key, and from the comments I’m reading, player version issues as well.

Of course, I’m open to learning the platform and developing on it - but probably only if it gets demanded by a client so that there is some money to back up my time.

]]> by: Todd http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62635 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:57:25 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62635 I do have to agree with you though, at MIX08 there's a lot of talk about the new new Silverlight beta 1 application over at Hard Rock Cafe: http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ . Not all that exciting though, I've seen plenty of Flex and Flash demos similar to this written up over at ely's blog (or someone's) a long time ago. Zoom and then load. *yawn*. Welcome to the richer internet, MSFT. But, it looks like the rest of us can finally play with with Silverlight 2 b1: http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/#betajump I do have to agree with you though, at MIX08 there’s a lot of talk about the new new Silverlight beta 1 application over at Hard Rock Cafe: http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ . Not all that exciting though, I’ve seen plenty of Flex and Flash demos similar to this written up over at ely’s blog (or someone’s) a long time ago. Zoom and then load. *yawn*. Welcome to the richer internet, MSFT.

But, it looks like the rest of us can finally play with with Silverlight 2 b1: http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/#betajump

]]> by: Todd http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62581 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:52:21 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62581 I think people could say the same thing about AIR, where are all the great AIR apps? If you look at the Adobe AIR market place, there's a whole lot of ehhh unimplessive stuff...but I think this is because it's so new. Most devs don't have time to tinker very deep in new technologies as they go from alpha through the beta cycle and to release (the ones that do are usually on the companies payroll). I know that my initial AIR application took two days of fixing from alpha to the first beta to get it working again, mostly because the application code base had grown so big at that point... These technologies are just emerging. I think to get a better look at what Silverlight 2.0 will be about (as we now know 1.0 is all about media streaming and customizing a media player), I think one should look at what WPF apps exist out there, and I've seen some pretty cool demos of WPF applications. (And you've mentioned the great 3d stuff...I can't wait for Flash/Silverlight to be hard-ware accelerated..it will come). Plus like those said above, as long as Microsoft keeps marketing machine making noise about Silverlight 2.0, managers of .NET shops are going to keep waiting. I have several clients who are interested in RIA, don't want to futz with much AJAX anymore, but they're waiting for Silverlight as they're primarily .NET shops, which means all the tools they need will eventually be included in their MSDN subscriptions and their devs won't have to learn a new language syntax (weak argument in my book). Also, since the 1.1 alpha (renamed 2.0 since) that's almost a year old, we haven't seen any public bits. The 2.0 beta should be here soon, and then I think things will get interesting when us devs can actually start mucking with it. I imagine a lot of stuff from 1.1 will be outdated by now and broken (just look at how many AIR apps were broken as the AIR release cycle matured towards release). I saw a video on an application called Family.Show by Vertigo Software. It's not Silverlight, it's WPF, so that 's cheating...but it shows that the .NET community will be very capable of producing some great stuff once the 2.0 comes and they get their paws on it. Also, one comment, why would there exist a bunch of cool Silverlight apps now (especially not build by Microsoft or one of thier partners) if 2.0 beta isn't even out yet? True, 1.0 was quite uninspiring, but as I said, that was more targeted at media. Silverlight 2.0 is going to be thier first release really targeted at RIA development. Anyway, it's good to see you as a Flex/Flash leader being open and keeping your eyes on the competitions technology. In the long run, you'll benefit because you'll be able to speak intelligently about both technologies, and when client's want to know "why are you suggesting Flex over Silverlight" you'll be able to explain. I think people could say the same thing about AIR, where are all the great AIR apps? If you look at the Adobe AIR market place, there’s a whole lot of ehhh unimplessive stuff…but I think this is because it’s so new. Most devs don’t have time to tinker very deep in new technologies as they go from alpha through the beta cycle and to release (the ones that do are usually on the companies payroll). I know that my initial AIR application took two days of fixing from alpha to the first beta to get it working again, mostly because the application code base had grown so big at that point…

These technologies are just emerging. I think to get a better look at what Silverlight 2.0 will be about (as we now know 1.0 is all about media streaming and customizing a media player), I think one should look at what WPF apps exist out there, and I’ve seen some pretty cool demos of WPF applications. (And you’ve mentioned the great 3d stuff…I can’t wait for Flash/Silverlight to be hard-ware accelerated..it will come).

Plus like those said above, as long as Microsoft keeps marketing machine making noise about Silverlight 2.0, managers of .NET shops are going to keep waiting. I have several clients who are interested in RIA, don’t want to futz with much AJAX anymore, but they’re waiting for Silverlight as they’re primarily .NET shops, which means all the tools they need will eventually be included in their MSDN subscriptions and their devs won’t have to learn a new language syntax (weak argument in my book).

Also, since the 1.1 alpha (renamed 2.0 since) that’s almost a year old, we haven’t seen any public bits. The 2.0 beta should be here soon, and then I think things will get interesting when us devs can actually start mucking with it. I imagine a lot of stuff from 1.1 will be outdated by now and broken (just look at how many AIR apps were broken as the AIR release cycle matured towards release).

I saw a video on an application called Family.Show by Vertigo Software. It’s not Silverlight, it’s WPF, so that ’s cheating…but it shows that the .NET community will be very capable of producing some great stuff once the 2.0 comes and they get their paws on it.

Also, one comment, why would there exist a bunch of cool Silverlight apps now (especially not build by Microsoft or one of thier partners) if 2.0 beta isn’t even out yet? True, 1.0 was quite uninspiring, but as I said, that was more targeted at media. Silverlight 2.0 is going to be thier first release really targeted at RIA development.

Anyway, it’s good to see you as a Flex/Flash leader being open and keeping your eyes on the competitions technology. In the long run, you’ll benefit because you’ll be able to speak intelligently about both technologies, and when client’s want to know “why are you suggesting Flex over Silverlight” you’ll be able to explain.

]]> by: Rafael http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62463 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:35:12 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62463 Very nice post Doug. I've notice a buzz about this Silverlight Microshit thing and me and my boss started a discussion about it and the first thing I said was "Unless this silverlight has some really hyper yupi master really (again) cool features that i can't find in flex or flash I'm not even bothering to install it". Than I end up here where I read your post. I'm glad that i had a good argument. Against my will I installed the plugin. Checked some of those websites and i felt just like you. Good(?) old times. Felt like Flash 4 times. First of all, It crashed my browser (FF 2) on my first attempt. Secondly, very slow. I use mac myself and I notice the effects was very slow motion in the first demo you mentioned. It seems that if you have a lot of animations playing the same time it doesn't really work well. Secondly, nothing impressive. Like you said, it lacks some good demos that could impact the community or at least let us be curious to go and try it. Finally, any of the demos i checked got close to make me consider install it. Serious... If they want to get into the competition they should do better than that. Rafael Cardoso Flex Developer http://www.enilsson.com/blog/ Very nice post Doug.

I’ve notice a buzz about this Silverlight Microshit thing and me and my boss started a discussion about it and the first thing I said was “Unless this silverlight has some really hyper yupi master really (again) cool features that i can’t find in flex or flash I’m not even bothering to install it”. Than I end up here where I read your post. I’m glad that i had a good argument.

Against my will I installed the plugin. Checked some of those websites and i felt just like you. Good(?) old times. Felt like Flash 4 times.

First of all, It crashed my browser (FF 2) on my first attempt. Secondly, very slow. I use mac myself and I notice the effects was very slow motion in the first demo you mentioned. It seems that if you have a lot of animations playing the same time it doesn’t really work well. Secondly, nothing impressive. Like you said, it lacks some good demos that could impact the community or at least let us be curious to go and try it. Finally, any of the demos i checked got close to make me consider install it.

Serious… If they want to get into the competition they should do better than that.

Rafael Cardoso
Flex Developer
http://www.enilsson.com/blog/

]]> by: John Dowdell http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62278 Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:34:30 +0000 http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/03/02/where-are-the-dope-silverlight-demos/#comment-62278 <em>"It’d be interesting to see if Microsoft can get the next generation RIA plugin on mobile devices first."</em> It's hard to see how that might be possible, considering that those devices already ship with Adobe Flash Lite and (for Nokia Internet Tablet) Adobe Flash Player 9. ;-) http://www.adobe.com/mobile/supported_devices/handsets.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/nokia.html jd/adobe “It’d be interesting to see if Microsoft can get the next generation RIA plugin on mobile devices first.”

It’s hard to see how that might be possible, considering that those devices already ship with Adobe Flash Lite and (for Nokia Internet Tablet) Adobe Flash Player 9. ;-)
http://www.adobe.com/mobile/supported_devices/handsets.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/nokia.html

jd/adobe

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