Healthy competition is the fuel that feeds innovation. As Silverlight gains acceptance, the war between standards-based and plug-in web applications is heating up. Functionality and features are growing by leaps and bounds, and the overall experience for end users will be more enjoyable. As Microsoft jockeys for position in this ever growing market, Silverlight will lead the charge into a new era of rich internet applications.
At the heart of this battle is HTML5, touted by many to be a plug-in killer. Some of the features like canvas, local storage, and web workers will definitely help blur the lines between web and desktop applications. Unfortunately, HTML5 is still a draft standard that is not yet widely implemented in browsers and isn’t slated for approval until 2012 despite its inception in 2004. Silverlight, on the other hand, was born in 2007. By the time version 3 was released in 2009, it had already surpassed the proposed functionality of HTML5. When Silverlight 4 makes its debut in 2010, the planned functionality of HTML5 will be nearing obsolescence a full two years before its approval.
Obviously, with major players like Google backing HTML5, ‘obsolescence’ is a slight exaggeration, but there are issues facing standards-based developers. Cross-browser compatibility has always been a problem, even with simple web pages. As web-based applications proliferate and become more and more complex this will become increasingly difficult. Pure web applications are also traditionally much slower than their desktop counterparts. Some browsers perform better than others, but in the end the desktop is still king.
Silverlight allows developers to bypass the browser altogether. Not only does this ensure the same user experience across browsers, but coding for a single platform saves countless hours of development. Silverlight is compiled and utilizes hardware acceleration allowing it to run at speeds rivaling its desktop equivalents. To achieve the same performance, Google also leveraged compilation in their Chrome browser. In order to maintain cross-browser compatibility and performance, they had to build a plug-in that runs Chrome in other browsers. AJAX was a clever hack that brought the web to life. Now it requires retrofitted enhancements to maintain its relevance. Silverlight, in contrast, was constructed from the ground up to build modern applications.
Tomorrow we will wrap up our discussion by exploring how RiteTrack leverages the power of Silverlight to offer a stunning experience.