Microsoft Unveils Silverlight 2

Microsoft has released Silverlight 2. Silverlight is a browser plug-in that allows users to view and interact with rich media on the Web.

With the plug in update, the company will also release development tools for Mac developers.

Silverlight, a competitor for flash delivers a Flash-like Web experience to users, allowing them to interact with elements of a Web page, including watching video.

But against Flash, Silverlight offers many other advantages like the language used to code applications. In Silverlight, developers have the choice of using any language.

Many companies like AOL, Hard Rock Cafe, Yahoo! Japan, AOL, and Toyota have chosen Silverlight to deliver rich media on their Web sites, thus indicating that its popularity is growing.

To help provide tools to developers, Microsoft is providing funds to France-based Soyatec, to integrate advanced Silverlight development capabilities into the Eclipse IDE.

Silverlight 2 is available for free download from Microsoft's Web site.