Microsoft officially released Silverlight 4 yesterday. Microsoft has also released a candidate of Expression Blend 4 (compatible with Silverlight 4) this week. The tech giant says that Silverlight is now installed on nearly 60% of Internet-connected devices worldwide.
In just five short months, Microsoft has gone from beta to the full release of Silverlight 4, which went into beta last fall. Some of the new features include more fluid animations, Webcam, microphone and printing support, 200 percent faster start times than Silverlight 3, deep zoom and multi-touch support and more.
One of the big capabilities of Silverlight 4 is its ability to take rich-media experiences outside the browser in client apps which will compete with Adobe AIR. The non-browser apps fully support HTML, allowing tight integration with content from the Web. It also supports notifications.
Microsoft is also working with Intel and Broadcom to deliver the Silverlight platform to set-top boxes, connected TVs, Blu-ray players and other devices.