A number of press releases use words like “amazing” or “revolutionary.” Then, as you read on, you find that the corresponding product or service is duller than dust. With Microsoft’s new Silverlight, the opposite appears to be true – a relatively modest press release accompanied this new “cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in,” and rave reviews ensued.
The company wasn’t overly shy about what it had done, however; the press release addressed the subject of “next-generation Web development and design.” Also, buried deep within it was the phrase, “The combination of Microsoft Silverlight and the latest platform and tooling enhancements make the .NET Framework unequaled for building and delivering Web, Windows, and rich interactive applications.”
TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington (working off of Nik Cubrilovic’s notes) then delved further into Silverlight’s significance. Arrington even used a car metaphor, which is always a good thing.
“Nik (a long-time developer) was most impressed by how small Silverlight is (4 MB) and how fast it is,” he wrote, adding that “it blows away native Javascript routines – without exaggeration, Ajax looks like a bicycle next to a Ferrari when compared to Silverlight.”
Now, just to be clear, this isn’t some entirely new product. Silverlight, as Cubrilovic reported, was “formerly known as Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere.”
Still, as certain recent examples have proven, product “renamings” can catch a lot of press, and it doesn’t hurt when a writer can add, “My personal opinion is that Silverlight is great and that Microsoft have done very well to bring .NET to the browser (almost all browsers).”
Like moths to a flame, Microsoft is finally getting some positive reviews with Silverlight.
