Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight was a plugin designed to enhance your web experience, particularly by integrating interactive multimedia content and advanced applications into browsers.

Warning: this plugin no longer exists today and is not supported by modern browsers (since October 12, 2021), having been phased out in favor of technologies like HTML5.

Playback and Streaming of Multimedia Content

Silverlight allowed you to play videos and audio files in various formats directly in your browser without the need for additional extensions. It supported popular formats such as WMV, WMA, MP3, and also H.264, enabling high-definition and DRM-protected content streaming.

Creation of Interactive User Interfaces

With Silverlight, you could enjoy sophisticated and interactive graphical interfaces, including animations, vector graphics, dynamic text, and customized user controls. Interfaces were programmed in XAML and could incorporate numerous visual effects and animated elements, while responding to user actions (keyboard, mouse, ...).

Development of Rich Web Applications

Silverlight also served as a development platform for creating rich internet applications (RIA) compatible with multiple browsers and operating systems. It offered advanced development tools, including support for .NET languages, data management, DOM API, and integration with other web technologies. Notable features included Deep Zoom for smooth image exploration and the ability to run applications offline.

In summary, Microsoft Silverlight played an important role in the evolution of interactive web applications, but it is no longer used on current platforms.