NET Framework classes. Because Silverlight 2.0 allows you to write code in
a .NET language such as C# and Visual Basic, it??™s a far more compelling technology than
Silverlight 1.0. However, at the time of this writing it??™s still in beta.
Although both Silverlight 1.0 and Silverlight 2.0 are based on WPF and incorporate many
of its conventions (such as the XAML markup you??™ll learn about in the next chapter), they
leave out certain feature areas. For example, neither version supports true three-dimensional
drawing or rich document display. New features may appear in future Silverlight releases, but
the more complex ones might never make the leap.
The ultimate goal of Silverlight is to provide a powerful developer-oriented competitor for
Adobe Flash. However, Flash has a key advantage??”it??™s used throughout the Web, and the Flash
plug-in is installed just about everywhere. In order to entice developers to switch to a new,
less-established technology, Microsoft will need to make sure Silverlight has next-generation
features, rock-solid compatibility, and unrivaled design support.
CHAPTER 1 n INTRODUCING WPF 15
nNote Although the Silverlight programming model is best understood as a dramatically scaled-down version
of WPF, it??™s probably more useful to web developers than rich client developers.
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