Silverlight 3 - the tipping point ...

In my role as an evangelist for Microsoft, I get the unique opportunity to meet and work with some of brightest CTO's, CIO and software architects in the world.  It occurred to me recently that we have reached the "tipping point" of Silverlight 3 -  the level at which the momentum of something becomes un-stoppable.  Every day thousands and thousands of installations are occurring of the Silverlight player while simultaneously we are seeing more and more development organizations take their prototypes to early betas and sneak previews.  This is even being seen in the Developer community - with MySpace just releasing an Open Social/Silverlight toolkit that allows developers to unleash the power of Silverlight within the broad and diverse communities of MySpace.  Read more about this release here.

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We are at the convergence of features needed to make Silverlight 3 a real contender in RIA space and a viral/awaking with the community that I directly work with - which defines the tipping point.  Many ISV decision makers are facing tough questions - the equal opportunity recession has made every organization really think hard about where to put its resources. 

This frequent topic of conversation comes up frequently when I meet with partners.  I’m asked questions such as: “What is the current adoption of Silverlight?” and, “Do enough people already have the player installed”  The answer is - many do and more are occurring everyday.

The issue that ISVs must see, is we are now at the turning point for Silverlight.  If you want to be the leader in your particular vertical, if you have been thinking about taking your social networking or portal to the next level of engagement – seize the day.  Make some time to check out some of the new features of Silverlight 3 and encourage your development team to do the same.

Eric Hoffman

Microsoft - Media and Communication