Comments for Silverlight Poll Results: Majority Impressed, But Not a Flash Killer Yet

Silverlight Poll Results: Majority Impressed, But Not a Flash Killer Yet

2007-05-07T04:39:53Z

Last week's Read/WriteWeb poll asked what you thought of Silverlight, Microsoft's newly improved rich internet app plug-in that was launched to (unusually) rave blog reviews at MIX on Monday. Some people even said that Silverlight leaves Adobe's Flash technology in the dust, which is a big claim to make given that Flash is still extremely popular with designers - and for users it's a slick rich media browser plug-in. Also the days of usablity 'gurus' complaining about Flash splash pages is mostly gone. Nowadays Flash is used to create compelling multimedia browser experiences. So to my mind, Flash still reigns supreme - until such time as we see similar ubiquity and/or outstanding browser experiences from Silverlight.

Also let's not forget that Adobe has been in this game for far longer than Microsoft, so it seems odd that Silverlight is being pumped up as a Flash killer. Don't get me wrong, Silverlight is very promising. From a technical standpoint, it would be difficult to argue against Nik Cubrilovic's detailed review. But let's not call it a Flash-killer just yet, until we see some actual web app evidence that it's better than Flash. Will designers take to Silverlight like they adopted Flash on masse? That is probably the key question.

In any case, our poll suggests that most people are indeed impressed by Silverlight. 23% rated it "awesome" and 32% "promising". So over half give it the thumbs up. 25% of respondants rated it "meh", but only 9% said it's terrible. Also there's a little confusion out there about what Silverlight is and does, with 11% not sure what it is. We'll look to address that this week with an explanatory post about Silverlight.

]]> I'm curious to know if Read/WriteWeb readers think that Silverlight is a 'Flash killer'. If you think it is, tell us why in the comments. Or if you think Adobe has this covered, please elaborate too.

Full results:

Question: Microsoft announced on Monday a raft of new features for Silverlight, its web development platform. What do you think of it?

It's awesome! 23% (116 votes)
It looks promising, but need to test it out more 32% (163 votes)
Meh 25% (124 votes)
It's terrible! 9% (44 votes)
I don't get what it is... 11% (55 votes)
Total Votes: 502

Comment from Ali on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T11:43:34Z

The thing with flash is that their standalone program, Flash CS3 now, lets basically anybody create and deploy anything from a portfolio website to an RIA across the internet and be safe with the usability as 98% of internet users have it installed already.

So in that regard SilverLight will have to have a lot of momentum behind it to create that sort of exposure. MS is planning on integrating the development of SilverLight content into their new Expression Studio, it might be something to look out for.

As for the Flash killer part, well when there is a monopoly everybody wants to see an underdog come in. But when they do they expect the world from it.

Only time will tell if MS is up to providing the competition.

Comment from enefekt on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T11:51:22Z

1.0 is at Beta, and the 1.1 is still at alpha. The DLR features for specific languages require an extra separate download right?

I think the true success would need to be found in widespread distribution and use. We'll see.

Adobe has a strong advantage with the whole cross-os designer/developer workflows. You can design/develop on Mac and Windows, and even develop on Linux with the Flex 2 SDK.

Comment from Saurabh Bhide of e-College on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T11:59:32Z

Microsoft killed netscape.But it won't 'kill' flash , because of both - the large user base, and also the large developer base.
Forget about killing flash - microsoft will have a tough time getting silverlight installed on people's browsers.

Comment from Matthew Smith on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T13:28:32Z

Silverlight is probably not a flash-killer. Designers will still prefer Flash, especially now that it is well integrated with Adobe's design tools. The big difference will be in the acceptance from developers. I think that Silverlight will be their platform of choice. For this reason, I expect more compelling applications to come from the Silverlight platform.

Comment from Darren Stuart on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T14:53:38Z

I wager if you got the OS of the people that said it was terrible it would be apple related. Lets face it if MS gave everyone in the world a ¬£1000 these people would still bad mouth them.

I think it looks promising but I think MS need to look at their pricing for the expression stuff because I have already dropped a lot of money of vs2005 and flash why would I drop that much more on something untested. They should do a express version.

Comment from Ivan Handler on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T19:12:40Z

I think the critical issue is, as usual, who has the market share and what does it take to upset the leader. Flash owns the market at this time and Microsoft is an also ran from the start.

I believe the problem MS has is that its strategy is to attempt to take over already existing markets. That is the strategy always employed by large conservative organizations with lots of cash. The problem with the strategy is that unless you really have something compelling, the market leader is always identified with the product in the users eyes. In particular, a "Flash killer" would have to do a whole lot more than Flash to have a chance at this point. It is likely that the developers in the MS orbit will use Silverlight, that will keep it in the also ran category.

The way this may be useful to MS is to keep it at least somewhat useful to the new developing Web 2.0+ market. That way MS is not completely excluded, though it is hard to believe that it will ever amount to a leader in this market.

Comment from Tom Spielman on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T20:07:30Z

As a developer who targets multiple platforms, I find Silverlight interesting but the fact is that I simply don't trust MS to provide a consistently good experience across all platforms long term. Their track record would indicate otherwise.

Microsoft has at times produced very good and even best of breed applications for the Mac but all too often even their good Mac products end up rotting on the vine.

Plus as I developer I want to be able to use the OS I choose and not be locked into what the development tools require.

Adobe isn't perfect in this regard either, but they're better than Microsoft and I don't necessarily need Adobe to provide Flash content.

Comment from Steve S on 2007-05-07

2007-05-07T21:07:31Z

Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle. Adobe has a huge installed base, a vast number of resources available for developers and a spectacular community surrounding its product. Since no one can say that Silverlight is spectacularly more powerful than Flash it will be a great deal of time (and maybe a few killer apps) before we see any real movement.