Silverlight for Mac and Is Silverlight dead? [closed]

Question

so i have been writing a prototype application in Silverlight for the last 3 months, although I am enjoying the technology and it has been very useful for the current task, I have read and been told from varies sources that the technology could no longer be supported and HTML5 is the way forward? Was just wondering if there was some solid information on this from Microsoft and if so where it could be found? Done some googling and just found blogs with sparse info.

Also if anyone one had any thoughts on the state of the mac version of silverlight? I have run some tests so far and the applications performance is really poor compared to silverlight running on windows.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

I'd have to look for the articles and links again but, long ago, Microsoft would not answer any questions about Silverlight and, more recently, has announced they do not encourage and will no longer develop Silverlight for the desktop. They now encourage HTML5 usage as evidenced by Windows8 which won't even be able to directly run Silverlight at all.

Interview with Microsoft's Bob Mulia by Mary-Jo Foley: Our strategy has shifted

So what’s a developer to make of Microsoft’s messaging (or lack thereof) about Silverlight at its premiere developer conference?

I asked Bob Muglia, the Microsoft President in charge of the company’s server and tools business, that very question and got what I consider to be the clearest answer yet about how Microsoft is evolving its Silverlight strategy.

“Silverlight is our development platform for Windows Phone,” he said. Silverlight also has some “sweet spots” in media and line-of-business applications, he said.

But when it comes to touting Silverlight as Microsoft’s vehicle for delivering a cross-platform runtime, “our strategy has shifted,” Muglia told me.

And, about the Mac:

“But HTML is the only true cross platform solution for everything, including (Apple’s) iOS platform,” Muglia said.

More links with Microsoft interviews:

Microsoft has abandoned Silverlight in Metro

Microsoft's Silverlight has been dropped for HTML5