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.

Yesterday I mentioned that most providers in the platform-as-a-service space use AJAX for their underlying technology.  Why?  The current modus operandi in web applications is that standards are king and plug-ins are evil.  There are a couple of complaints about plug-in based applications, but as you will see, neither hold much weight.  Let’s examine the alleged infractions.

Over the next few days we will be exploring various advantages and disadvantages of using Silverlight as the underlying technology for our suite of cloud-enabled products.  Recently, we released version 4 of RiteTrack Design Studio.  Built on Microsoft’s Silverlight platform and available on the web, Design Studio allows garage enthusiasts and large organizations alike to quickly and efficiently produce cloud-ready applications. Silverlight enables RiteTrack 4 to  offer an extremely rich user experience similar to a traditional desktop application, but enjoys the benefits of the web distribution model.   Coupled with our state-of-the-art hosting services, Handel’s low cost platform offering is very attractive.