Silverlight News Desk

Silverlight 2 Reportedly on the Horizon

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:00:00 EDT

Silverlight 2 advanced to Release Candidate 0 over the weekend. Microsoft underscores that it is only for testing and “should not be used for launching Silverlight 2 applications for the general public.” But final release, covering Windows and Mac, is thought to be imminent.

Building RIAs Using Microsoft Silverlight 2

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:45:00 EDT

Many of today's (and tomorrow’s) development projects lend themselves nicely to RIA application patterns. Silverlight offers a compelling RIA development experience that works on Linux, the Mac and windows as well as all major browsers. With HD video, vector based graphics and a rich set of controls including DataGrid, Silverlight offers a compelling development experience in nearly any programming language you’d like from C# and VB, to JavaScript and Python. Learn how to use Visual Studio to create applications, how to create UI using XAML markup and code, how to retrieve data from the web, and how to manipulate data with XML and LINQ. This talk uses the 100% free Silverlight runtime and Visual Studio tools.

The Evolution of Cloud Computing - Then and Now

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EDT

With all of the hype surrounding Cloud computing, Microsoft's upcoming Cloud OS and current efforts around Live Mesh, I thought I would take a trip on the WABAC machine to look at where it all started. Back when I was in junior high school, the best type of connectivity that I could hope for were dial-up Bulletin Boards. Yes, I used a 2400 baud modem. No, I am not older than dirt. We used these BBS' to play games, to post on discussion forums, and occasionally, if the BBS owner was wealthy enough, they'd have multiple nodes (for you young whipper snappers, that means multiple phone lines, multiple modems, and a single shared BBS) and we could chat between nodes. I started running my first BBS when I was 13. I had to run it from 7am until 5pm only because my mother wouldn't let me run it on our phone line when she was home ;)

AJAX World Conference $200 "Gold Pass Registration" Savings to Expire This Friday

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:15:00 EDT

Rich Internet Applications offer the potential to fundamentally change the user experience and in doing so, yield significant business benefits. The theme of this October's AJAX World Conference & Expo 2008 West is 'Beyond AJAX to the RIA Era' and the Call for Papers, which is still open, specifically encourages submissions from exceptional speakers with high-quality use cases of the fast-emerging RIA alternatives.

ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit to Ship with Open Source jQuery

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:00:00 EDT

Microsoft said, “Going forward we’ll use jQuery as one of the libraries used to implement higher-level controls in the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit, as well as to implement new AJAX server-side helper methods for ASP.NET MVC. New features we add to ASP.NET AJAX (like the new client template support) will be designed to integrate nicely with jQuery as well.”

RIA Conference Keynotes: Adobe & Microsoft

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Join Scott Guthrie as he discusses Microsoft’s commitment to web standards development, Rich Internet Applications and how Microsoft is contributing to help move the web forward. Join Adobe’s Kevin Lynch as he demonstrates how Flash and HTML come together to make the most engaging, effective user experiences across operating systems and browsers.

AJAX World "Gold Pass" Savings to Expire This Friday

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:15:00 EDT

Rich Internet Applications offer the potential to fundamentally change the user experience and in doing so, yield significant business benefits. The theme of this October's AJAXWorld Conference & Expo 2008 West is 'Beyond AJAX to the RIA Era' and the Call for Papers, which is still open, specifically encourages submissions from exceptional speakers with high-quality use cases of the fast-emerging RIA alternatives.

Spice Up User Experience with Silverlight

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:00:00 EDT

Microsoft introduced Silverlight as cross-platform, cross-browser next generation RIA solution. This session will use real world implementations to show you how to build a Silverlight application from start to finish, as well overall strategy why we should or shouldn't use Silverlight. No matter whether you have LAMP, ASP.NET or Java Web application, you can take advantage of Silverlight to impress your user with the "Wow" effects.

Citrix Virtualization Seminar Targets VPN

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Are you being asked to do more with less, like trying to overcome legacy VPN deployment barriers while reducing costs? Is providing remote access for some users simply too expensive? Citrix requests attendance at an interactive Webinar to hear security analyst Lisa Phifer discuss how companies can deliver more effective access by augmenting traditional VPNs with Citrix GoToMyPC Corporate.

Building Rich Internet Applications Using Microsoft Silverlight 2

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:15:00 EDT

From Enterprise to Cloud, Virtualization Today on SYS-CON.TV

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:00:00 EDT

Virtualization has become a critical part of Enterprise IT strategy. Why and how has it become one of the most important change agents in our industry? To answer these questions I had the good fortune recently to be able to speak to a select group of top IT industry executives who joined me in the 4th Floor Reuters TV Studio overlooking Times Square in New York City for a special SYS-CON.TV "Virtualization Power Panel."

AJAX RIA Tutorial - Accessing the ASP.NET Authentication, Profile and Role Service in Silverlight

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT

In ASP.NET 2.0, we introduced a very powerful set of application services in ASP.NET (Membership, Roles and profile). In 3.5 we created a client library for accessing them from Ajax and .NET Clients and exposed them via WCF web services. For more information on the base level ASP.NET appservices that this walk through is based on, please see Stefan Schackow's excellent book Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Security, Membership, and Role Management.

Zoho Claims Google Chrome Rusts Out Flash & Silverlight

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:00:00 EDT

Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of Zoho, the online Office wannabe, sent a note around in the wake of Google’s Chrome announcement, claiming its impact “goes beyond the browser” and that the “biggest losers” are the “competing rich client engines like Flash and Silverlight.”

Nth Penguin Releases WebWidgetry Data Services

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Nth Penguin has released WW.DataServices to the public and is available for immediate download at: www.nthpenguin.com. WW.DataServices, the first system of the WebWidgetry engine, removes all the work from accessing your data. You simply point it to a database location, push a button, and it generates everything for you.

Silverlight Races To Victory in Singapore's 2008 Formula 1 Grand Prix

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:20:00 EDT

Here's another Silverlight app that I've been bursting to share with y'all. It's from the promotion site for the 2008 Formula 1 Grand Prix being hosted in Singapore and sponsored by SingTel. It's a great and innovative use of Video. They are running a competition called the 'heart race' where 20 models will get your heart racing, but can you get theirs to race?

Gizmox Brings Microsoft Silverlight to Enterprises

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:05:00 EDT

Gizmox announced the release of a fully functional beta version of its Visual WebGui (VWG) with support for Microsoft Silverlight. For the first time, VWG enables Silverlight for enterprise applications by providing a RAD like Windows Forms development experience with drag & drop design that cuts development cycles by as much as 90%.

Spice Up User Experience with Silverlight

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:45:00 EDT

AJAX World RIA Conference: Building RIAs Using Microsoft Silverlight 2

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Many of today (and tomorrow’s) development projects lend themselves nicely to RIA application patterns. Silverlight offers a compelling RIA development experience that works on Linux, the Mac and windows as well as all major browsers. With HD video, vector based graphics and a rich set of controls including DataGrid Silverlight offers a compelling development experience in nearly any programming language you’d like from C# and VB to JavaScript and Python. Learn how to use Visual Studio to create applications, how to create UI using XAML markup and code, how to retrieve data from the web, and how to manipulate data with XML and LINQ. This talk uses the 100% free Silverlight runtime and Visual Studio tools.

NBC Olympic Coverage Shines as Silverlight Proving Ground

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Michael Phelps is not the only one breaking records and winning gold at the Olympics in Beijing. If Microsoft's Silverlight continues to have the success it has had in streaming video coverage of the Olympic Games around the world, it could mean gold for Microsoft as the software giant continues its competition with Adobe and that company's ubiquitous Flash technology.

A Guide to Rich Internet Application (RIA) Security

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Read about Forrester's findings on RIA security included in a Forrester Research paper valued at $775 titled 'Securing Rich Internet Applications' by Jeffrey Hammond, plus find out about Curl's Security Architecture in a new Curl white paper titled 'Developing Secure Rich Internet Applications for the Enterprise' by David Kranz, CTO.

WinForms Gauge Control by DevExpress

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:15:00 EDT

DevExpress is proud to announce the immediate availability of the XtraGauge Component Suite for Windows Forms. Built and optimized for Visual Studio .NET, this Gauge control radically simplifies the way in which developers create and deliver dashboard-style UIs to their customers.

WinForms Wizard Control by DevExpress

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:15:00 EDT

DevExpress is proud to announce the immediate availability of the XtraWizard component suite for Windows Forms. Built and optimized for Visual Studio .NET, this Wizard control radically simplifies the way in which developers create and deliver step-by-step 'guides' and/or detailed data entry forms in their smart client solutions.

Microsoft's Silverlight Widgetry Sued for Patent Infringement

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Microsoft and its cross-platform, Flash-rivaling, RIA-building Silverlight plug-in are being sued in San Francisco for patent infringement by a no-profile Massachusetts outfit called Gotuit Media Corporation. The thin seven-page suit and its venue comes compliments of California lawyer Spencer Hosie who brought us the highly diverting Burst.com antitrust suit against Microsoft and its delicious tales of Candy and the Microsoft document shredder. Burst of course was settled on the courthouse steps for less than it might have gotten inside.

Web 2.0 Journal Case Study: Transcending E-mail as a Platform for Multi-Person Collaboration

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:15:00 EDT

E-mail is extremely easy to adopt and use, and lends itself very well to certain types of collaboration. When two people are attempting to collaborate asynchronously, e-mail is usually the best solution. It's certainly far less frustrating than phone tag. But once more people are involved, email's utility rapidly degenerates. While the rise of free, open-source solutions makes it tempting to build one's own collaboration tools, on-demand or Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions are the better choice for the majority of users and uses.

Schematic Silverlight-Based Online Video Channel to Bring Coverage of the 2008 Olympics

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:45:00 EDT

Schematic announced its development of a Web video player anchoring NBC's online coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on NBCOlympics.com on MSN. The announcement was made by Perkins Miller, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics, and Trevor Kaufman, CEO of Schematic. The player debuts this week with live, streaming coverage of the U.S. Olympic trials.

SYS-CON's Virtualization Conference & Expo: Themes & Topics

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:30:00 EDT

From Application Virtualization to Xen, a round-up of the virtualization themes & topics being discussed in NYC June 23-24, 2008 by the world-class speaker faculty at the 3rd International Virtualization Conference & Expo being held by SYS-CON Events in The Roosevelt Hotel, in midtown Manhattan.

Virtualization, Silverlight and Verizon

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Zmanda, the open source backup and recovery folks, says it's integrated NetApp's Snapshot technology with its own Recovery Manager for MySQL. It's supposed to translate into continuous data protection for mission-critical MySQL databases. With Snapshot, administrators can create point-in-time copies of file systems for granular recovery.

Infragistics Releases CTP UI Components for Microsoft Silverlight Beta 2

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Infragistics announced the availability of two Community Technology Preview (CTP) User Interface (UI) components for Microsoft Silverlight beta 2. With the release of chart and gauge components for Silverlight beta 2, Infragistics demonstrates it can create innovative user experiences for new, emerging technology.

Nintex Reporting 2008 Now Available

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Nintex announced the release of Nintex Reporting 2008, the new product for the Microsoft SharePoint platform. Nintex Reporting 2008 collects and analyses SharePoint usage data to provide insight into workplace trends and behaviors. Nintex Reporting 2008 allows everyone from system administrators to business owners to access online reports and key information dashboards targeted to their role.

Silverlight, AJAX and PDF Invoices Cement SplendidCRM as the Ideal CRM Platform

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EDT

SplendidCRM announced the launch of Version 2.1 of its flagship platform SplendidCRM. The new Silverlight graphs provide SplendidCRM developers with the ability to create and customize graphs. Extended AJAX support provides the CRM user with a more natural experience.

AJAX World - Google Web Toolkit RC1.5 Ready To Pop

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Google's Web Toolkit Release Candidate 1.5 will be available later this week. That's the stuff programmers can use to develop and debug web applications in Java and then deploy them as highly optimized JavaScript. That way they're supposed to be able to sidestep common AJAX headaches like browser compatibility, and enjoy significant performance and productivity gains.

Steve Jobs Loses His Mind - Sues "The Big Apple"

Tue, 27 May 2008 21:15:00 EDT

Friday morning the local Fox television station in New York City broke the news - Apple was suing New York City. Six out of 100 of their viewers thought Apple had the right to sue the City, but 94 out of 100 viewers are now calling for New Yorkers to drop Apple and its products, including the iPhone and Macs. New Yorkers are pissed off! New York City, universally known as The Big Apple, is facing a lawsuit from Steve Jobs' Apple Computer Inc. for, of all things, copyright infringement.

Deploying an ASP.NET AJAX RSS Reader on Linux

Thu, 22 May 2008 07:30:00 EDT

Have you ever wished you could run ASP.NET applications on Linux, without having to rewrite your code or leave the Visual Studio development environment? In this article, I show you how to port Steve Clements' AJAX ASP.NET RSS Reader to native Java and deploy it to Apache Tomcat on Linux. I also show you how to add an AnimationExtender and a HoverMenu from the AJAX Control Toolkit in Visual Studio, while targeting Java.

Virtualization, Going Green, Google and SaaS

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Dell is going to try to cut the energy consumption of its laptops and desktops by up to 25% between now and 2010 to avoid millions of tons of CO2 emissions, comparing its pledge to HP's, which is supposed to cut relative its 2005 levels. It says Dell OptiPlex desktop are down nearly 50% since 2005 and Latitude laptops are down 16% since 2006.

JavaOne 2008: Sun Talks Up its Late-to-the-Party AIR-Silverlight Rival

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:45:00 EDT

At Java One this week Sun has been selling its year-old-but-still-upcoming - and definitely late-to-the-party - Adobe AIR- and Microsoft Silverlight-competitive JavaFX Rich Client environment as a potential revenue-generator capable of putting ads on mobile applications and JavaFX Script, its newfangled high-performance GUI declarative scripting language, as the way to build consumer next-generation RIAs for desktops, mobiles, TV and other consumer devices.

AJAX World - Xceed Launches Microsoft Silverlight 2 Control

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Xceed launched Xceed Upload for Silverlight, the commercial offering in support of Microsoft's promising new Silverlight technology. The product is available now for purchase or as a fully functional 45-day trial on Xceed's website. Xceed Upload for Silverlight lets developers add upload capabilities to any Silverlight 2 Beta 1 application. All upload operations are asynchronous; as a result, the Web page hosting the Silverlight application remains perfectly responsive and usable throughout the transfer.

AJAX World - Curl Launches Adobe AIR Competitor

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Curl announced the beta release of Curl Nitro, the code name for an extension of the Curl Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform which offers enhanced desktop capabilities required by today's enterprises. The Nitro extension simplifies the process of installing and managing Curl applications accessed via a browser as well as directly from the desktop. Curl Nitro is the only platform for both traditional RIA and Desktop RIA that provides enterprise-level security, high performance and support for large data sets.

Is the Silverlight Adoption Rate Artificially Inflated?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:45:00 EDT

Silverlight 2.0 is a freaking phenomenal RIA development environment and I would actually, at this point, put the development experience in Silverlight 2.0 above and beyond Flex. I can do more faster and have it look better and run more efficiently in Silverlight 2.0 than I can in Flex. BUT, when you're looking for case studies, look for ones where the person or organization who adopted Silverlight did so of their own volition, without being approached by Microsoft. I'm interested in hardcore, unbiased opinions from people who have been in the trenches doing their own coding, not watching Microsoft consultants do the coding for them. There are plenty of case studies like that out there, you just have to look past the shiny bouncing balls that are the Olympics and the Oscars and all the other crap that probably cost Microsoft a hojillion dollars in marketing funds and incentives.

Xceed to Embrace Microsoft's Silverlight in Upcoming Product

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Xceed is poised to launch Xceed Upload for Silverlight, its offering in support of Microsoft's promising new Silverlight technology. Slated for release in May or June 2008, Xceed Upload for Silverlight provides programmers with HTTP upload capabilities for C# and VB.NET development using Silverlight. Whether client software needs to upload single files, groups of files, or strings to Web servers, Xceed Upload for Silverlight makes implementation fast and easy. In batch mode, file transfer is deferred, letting the application gather data from different sources, such as form controls, performing the actual transfer when it is ready. Uploads are asynchronous for optimum performance, so the client software remains responsive throughout the operation.

Cynergy Selected by Microsoft for Global Agency Initiative

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:45:00 EDT

Cynergy Systems announced it has been selected by Microsoft to participate in the Microsoft Global Agency Initiative. This invitation-only initiative has resulted in a group of the top 20 interactive agencies that Microsoft recommends to its customers. Cynergy has developed a number of applications utilizing Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation for customers. The company was also the national winner at last month's PhizzPop Design Challenge, a contest hosted by Microsoft where more than 30 Web design and development firms competed to develop the best rich Internet applications using Microsoft Silverlight.