Posted 07/10/09 at 07:25:14 PM by Paul Lilly

After four months in beta, Microsoft today released its Silverlight 3 web application framework. A direct rival of Adobe Flash, the newest version of Silverlight supports Internet Explorer 6/7/8 and Firefox 2/3 in Windows, and Safari 3/4 on the Mac platform (Opera and Chrome users are left out in the cold).

Silverlight 3 sports a bevy of new features and APIs, not the least of which is support for GPU hardware acceleration. It also includes new codec support (H.264, AAC, MPEG-4), improved logging for media analytics, deep linking, improved text quality, multi-touch support, and a bunch more.

According to Microsoft, "Silverlight 3 also ushers in a new generation of high-quality and high-definition video experiences with true high-definition video in full-screen mode, with stutter-free live and on-demand video." In addition, Silverlight's Smooth Streaming technology allows users to start playing HD content at any point in time, instantly.

Smooth Streaming Demo
Silver 3 Download

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