Silverlight 2 released

Silverlight 2 released

[Original address] Silverlight 2 released
[Original article publication date] Tuesday, October 14,200 8 AM

Today, we released the final version of Silverlight 2. You can download Silverlight 2 here, as well as support for its Visual Studio 2008 and expression blend 2 tools.

Cross-platform/cross-browser. Net Development

Silverlight 2 is a cross-platform browser plug-in that facilitates rich media experience and. Net RIAs (rich Internet applications) in browsers ).

Silverlight 2 is very small and only 4.6 MB. It takes 4-10 seconds to install it on a machine that has not been installed.NoA. NET Framework must be installed on the machine to run the program. The Silverlight installation and download package contains all the things required to play videos or run applications.

Developers can use any. Net Language (including Vb, C #, JavaScript, ironpython and ironruby) to write Silverlight applications. Silverlight provides the following rich development features:

• Wpf ui framework: Silverlight 2 contains a rich UI framework that greatly simplifies the construction of rich web applications. It includes a powerful graphics and animation engine, as well as rich support for object controls, layout management, data binding, styles, template skins, and other high-level UI functions. The wpf ui framework in Silverlight is complete. A compatible subset of the wpf ui framework functions in the. NET Framework, allowing developers to reuse existing skills, controls, code, and content to create a wide array of cross-browser web applications, and a wide range of desktop Windows applications.

• Rich controls: Silverlight 2 includes a rich set of built-in controls that developers and designers can use to quickly build applications. The final version of Silverlight 2 includes core Form Controls (Textbox, checkbox, radiobutton, ComboBox, etc.), built-in layout management panels (stackpanel, grid, panel, etc ), common functional controls (slider, scrollviewer, calendar, datepicker, etc.) and data operation controls (DataGrid, ListBox, etc ). All Silverlight controls support a wide range of control template models that allow developers and designers to work together to build beautiful solutions.

• Rich network support: Silverlight 2 supports a wide range of networks. It supports calling rest, WS */soap, pox, RSS, and standard HTTP Services. It supports cross-origin network access (allow the Silverlight client to directly access resources and data on the Internet), and also supports the socket built-in network.

• Rich base class libraries: Silverlight 2 contains a wide array of. net base class libraries, including collections, Io, generics, threads, globalization, XML, and local storage. It also contains a wide range of APIS, facilitating html dom/JavaScript and. net code integration. It also includes support for the LINQ and LINQ to XML class libraries (which will facilitate easy data conversion and query), as well as support for local data caching and storage. . Net APIs in Silverlight is a compatible subset of the complete. NET Framework.

• Rich Media Support: Silverlight 2 includes a built-in video codecs, which can be used to play HD videos and stream transmission on the Internet. It also supports live and on-demand playback scenarios. Silverlight also includes support for dynamic conversion of video bit rates based on network conditions (to prevent users from seeing a nasty "buffer ..." In the video stream, and supports Content Protection.

The final version of Silverlight 2 will provide tremendous power and flexibility, allowing you to push the boundaries in the browser to achieve an excellent end-user experience.

Silverlight customers

Several well-known websites have been successfully launched using the beta version of Silverlight 2 over the past few months.

In March 1.3 billion, NBC hosted the Olympic Live broadcast on nbcolympics.com, providing 0.6 billion page views, video streams, and-minute video content, making it the largest media event ever on the Internet. On average, it takes 27 minutes for visitors to watch videos on the site. This is an unprecedented number for online traffic.

In July August, the Democratic National Congress used Silverlight for live broadcasting, providing 2 Mbit live videos for related activities and speeches, which were well received by the audience.

This month, many high-profile websites will be launched using the final version of Silverlight 2. The CBS University Sports Network will provide 150 hours of competition for more than 20 thousand universities and partners. AOL will use Silverlight 2 to launch a new AOL mail browser version for more than users, blockbuster will use Silverlight to launch their new movielink subscription service. Yahoo Japan (Yahoo! Hard Rock International will update its commemorative website to provide new features, such as Toyota, HSN and nearly other companies will be available this week.

Silverlight Toolkit

Silverlight 2 released dozens of built-in UI controls that can be used to build applications. The following is the screen of the final version of the Silverlight DataGrid, radiobutton, checkbox, and datepicker controls:

Today, we also announced the Silverlight toolkit, which provides dozens of other controls that can be used in Silverlight 2. We will add new controls to the control package over the next few months (we expect the total number of controls to exceed 100 ). The first version of the toolkit will include controls such as Treeview, dockpanel, wrappanel, viewbox, expander, numericupdown, and autocomplete. All controls provide the complete source code and an OSI license, which allows you to modify and use the source code without limitation.

Interoperability)

Today, we also announced that Microsoft is working with soyatec to sponsor additional tools for cross-platform eclipse development platforms to develop Silverlight applications, click here to learn more and download the free Silverlight Eclipse plug-in. Click here to refer to a step-by-step tutorial, which demonstrates how to use the current eclipse tool to build the Silverlight 2 application.

Today, we also announce that we will release vocabulary and schema of Silverlight XAML under open specification promise (OSP ), this license will allow anyone to launch products that can read and write Silverlight XAML.

Learn Silverlight 2

The best way to learn about Silverlight 2 is to access the http://www.silverlight.net/website. You can find free online tutorials, teaching videos, and training materials there. The website also provides an online forum system where members of the Microsoft MVP and Silverlight development teams can help you answer technical questions. Don't forget to subscribe to the Silverlight community RSS feed, Jesse Liberty's blog, and Tim Heuer's blog. They provide wonderful Silverlight content every day.

Recently, I updated my Digg client tutorial to the final version of Silverlight 2, which demonstrates how to build a Silverlight 2 Application and helps explain the various programming concepts (controls, layout management, network, data binding, style, user control, control template, and so on ). If you do not know anything about Silverlight or WPF, I suggest you repeat it to understand its basics]

• Part 0: Introduction
• Part 1: Creating "Hello World" with Silverlight 2 and vs 2008 (Chinese version) Part 1: create a "hello World" program using Silverlight 2 and vs 2008)
• Part 2: Using layout management (Chinese version) Part 2: layout management ))
• Part 3: Using networking to retrieve data and populate a DataGrid ([Chinese Version] Part 3: retrieving data using networking and filling the DataGrid)
• Part 4: using style elements to better encapsulate look and feel ))
• Part 5: using the ListBox and databinding to display list data ([Chinese Version] Part 5: Using ListBox and databinding to display list data (translated by wooye HU ))
• Part 6: using user controls to implement master/details scenarios ([Chinese Version] Part 6: Use user controls to implement Master/Slave tables)
• Part 7: using templates to customize control look and feel)
• Part 8: creating a Digg desktop version of our application using WPF ([Chinese Version] Part 8: Create a Digg desktop application using WPF)

You can use any version of Visual Studio 2008 to develop the Silverlight 2 application. You only need to install Silverlight tools for Visual Studio 2008 to obtain the Silverlight tool support.

If you do not have vs 2008, you can install Visual Web Developer 2008 express SP1 free of charge. This free tool provides excellent support for ASP. NET development tools. From today on, it will also support Silverlight 2 development. You can use Visual Web Developer 2008 express by following all the steps in the previous tutorial and get the complete support for intelliisense, debugging, and deployment.

Upgrade from Beta

If you have installed beta2 or RC, Silverlight 2 beta SDK, or Silverlight 2 developer, you must uninstall them first, download and install the final version of today.

End users who have installed Silverlight 1, Silverlight 2 beta1, or beta2 will automatically upgrade from later this month to the final version of Silverlight 2. Before that, if they visit a website using the final version of Silverlight 2, they will see the standard installation prompt only when the machine without Silverlight is installed, click it to upgrade the machine to the final version of Silverlight 2 (there is no need to uninstall anything, And Silverlight 2 will be installed cleanly on Silverlight 1 or a previous beta version ).

Because there are some major changes between Silverlight 2 beta2 and final version Silverlight 2, end users who have installed the final version of Silverlight 2 will not be able to run the Silverlight beta2 application. Most major Silverlight 2 websites plan to upgrade to the final version within the next 24 hours (this will solve this problem ), if you encounter a website using beta2 before that, you may encounter some problems. However, after about one day, all the websites have been upgraded, and the problem should disappear (this is one of the reasons why we released the open candidate version last month, to help developers prepare their websites for upgrading to the final version ).

Conclusion

Silverlight 2 is a major release that will facilitate the implementation of some beautiful new applications and media experience, allowing developers to use. Net to create these applications and experiences in any browser.

Thank you for your support and feedback for all of us during the development of the past year. All colleagues of the Silverlight Development Team will look forward to your masterpiece developed with Silverlight 2 ,:-).

Scott