What is the silverlight plugin? What kind of program is Microsoft Silverlight? How to use SilverLight
Microsoft Silverlight is not a program. On the one hand, it is a technology for developing multimedia software; on the other hand, it is a platform for developing this software.
Official Microsoft Silverlight logo
Why is it needed?
Silverlight was developed by Microsoft as a broader, safer and more productive technology than its direct competitor. The purpose of both technologies is identical, namely the development and support of applications with vector, raster 2D and 3D graphics, audio and video clips. It is a platform for RIA applications.
RIAs are web applications that are downloaded to the user’s device for execution. While working, they can complete components from the Internet.
Silverlight combines 4 of the most important modern web components.
It was assumed that Silverligth would be deployed on each operating platform, but in fact it appeared only on Windows, Mac OS X, Symbian. Cross-platform also implies that an application developed using Silverligth should work and look good both on the screen of a personal computer and on the display of a tablet or smartphone.
A key component of the Silverligth platform is XALM, a markup language. It allows you to include text in your application that is indexed by search engines (Google, ).
Silverlight applications (starting from version 2) are part of the .NET technology, which allows them to be developed in any of the platform languages (C#, Object C++, Python).
What do you need to install
For a programmer, installing Silverlight involves deploying the appropriate development environment on your PC: Visual Studio on Windows and Mac OS X, and Mono on Linux.
For the user, Silverlight is a module or plugin for a web browser. To use its capabilities, you need to download a browser that supports it.
Do you need Silverlight
If you are a user, then the answer is clear. No. In 2012, the technology was officially recognized as unpromising and obsolete. And today no modern browser supports it (except Edge).
Although there are several hundred powerful enterprise solutions on Silverligth, the number of applications is dwindling every month. Microsoft experts suggest that by 2021 there will not be a single Silverlight-based application left.
The user should not worry that some web component will be inaccessible to him. Software manufacturers either long ago replaced components written in Silverlight in their software products, or implemented support for both Silverlight and Flash.
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Silverlight is responsible for displaying graphics and images in the user's browser, providing technology for displaying active content. The platform is also widely used to create widgets for Windows Vista and Windows Sidebar.
The technology implements playback of WMA, WMV and MP3 formats, but does not require installation of additional modules by the user, as was implemented in the Windows Media Player extension. Silverlight is widely used on the Internet due to the large number of possible interface tools that enhance the capabilities of the user and web developer.
Silverlght code can be written in any language from the .NET platform.
Silverlight is an alternative tool for creating active content on websites. In addition to this solution from Microsoft, technologies such as Adobe Flash, HTML 5 and JavaFX are widely used on the Internet.
Installing Silverlight for a user
To date, the latest version of the module is Silverlight 5, which is available on the official project website created by Microsoft. Go to the company's website to the plugin download section using the browser you are using. Click on the Download Now link and wait for the installer file to download.
Silverlight is supported on all modern Windows and MacOS desktop operating systems.
Run the downloaded file and in the window that appears, click on the “Install Now” button to begin installing the product. Close the Internet programs you are using and wait for the file unpacking operation to complete. Once the installation is complete, you will receive a corresponding notification on the screen. Click the "Close" button and launch your Internet browsing program. You can now play content on sites that use this content display technology.
Disadvantages of technology
There is a Silverlight version for phones running Windows Phone. However, Silverlight is not available for Android and iOS platforms, making the technology unusable on almost all mobile platforms. This means that applications written on it are available only to computer users.
Among the disadvantages of the technology is the inability of the plugin to work with systems other than Windows and OS X. Also, a program written in Silverlight will not start if the user does not have an Internet connection.
Hello everyone Today I will tell you about a plugin called Microsoft Silverlight, which is needed for any multimedia to work on a website. Well, that is, some kind of animation, audio and video playback, in general, Microsoft Silverlight is needed for all this! But what’s interesting is, as I understand it, it’s something like Adobe Flash Player, only from Microsoft, now that’s interesting! That is, with the help of this Silverlight, a video can be played on a website without using regular Flash!
Here's an unexpected joke, that's what I found out. So I don’t know whether you know it or not, but I will write - in 2015, support for NPAPI format plugins was disabled in many browsers. And that’s why Microsoft Silverlight no longer works in browsers such as Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome! Because of which there was a mountain of dissatisfaction on the Internet and all that, many users began to look for an option on how to enable NPAPI, but alas, this is no longer possible. However, you can use the old version, for example, I used the old version of Chrome and you can enable NPAPI there! If you're interested, I wrote about this.
Microsoft Silverlight - Debriefing
Some users write that they installed Microsoft Silverlight and their browser stopped lagging when playing videos. I don’t know how true this is, but I think it’s quite possible. However, many users still write that this thing is of zero use, they downloaded it, installed it and didn’t notice the difference. Well, I understand all this, especially considering that Microsoft Silverlight no longer works in many browsers..
I also read one comment that the browser may freeze due to a site that uses Microsoft Silverlight, and all because the browser no longer supports this thing! Maybe this is why it freezes, because there is something on the site that the browser does not support. Well, this is logical...
As I understand it, at the moment Microsoft Silverlight only works in the Internet Explorer browser. If you use this browser, then you may not need to remove Microsoft Silverlight, but if you don’t use it, then I think you can remove it. Well, think for yourself, this thing is no longer supported by popular browsers, but YouTube generally wants to switch to a format WITHOUT Flash, using only HTML5 for video.. That’s how things are..
I also have this Microsoft Silverlight, and not just, but three pieces - regular, version 4 SDK and version 5 SDK. I don’t know where it came from, I definitely didn’t install this thing myself..
In general, I don’t know about you, but I’ll delete this thing
So, as I understand it, this thing is installed in these folders:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Silverlight\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Silverlight\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Silverlight\
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\Silverlight\
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\RIA Services\v1.0\Libraries\Silverlight\
In general, not only in these folders, maybe somewhere else. To check, open the system drive and where the search field is, that is, in the upper right corner, then write the word Silverlight there and you will see a lot of things, this is what I have:
A few thoughts out loud. It may be worth searching not by the word Silverlight, but by the phrase Microsoft Silverlight. I think so, because maybe the Microsoft Silverlight program is one thing, but there may be some other program whose name includes the word Silverlight.. Therefore, to be more precise, it is better to use the full name, that is, Microsoft Silverlight!
How to completely remove Microsoft Silverlight from your computer?
So, now about the removal. You can delete it either simply or using a certain deleter. I mean with the help of , its trick is that it will help you remove the program and will also help you remove the remnants of the program in Windows. In general, it removes and cleans it later. But today I’ll show you how to remove it manually and then how to manually clean Windows from residues..
Now a moment's attention. In general, I advise you to make a restore point before deleting. This is not difficult, in the end you will protect yourself from glitches, this is, so to speak, a good insurance policy in case something goes wrong. I already wrote how to do it in an article about it, I advise you to look at it.
So, to uninstall you need to click Start and select Control Panel there:
If you have Windows 10, then cool, no doubt, but there this item is in another menu, to call it, press the Win + X buttons!
Then we find the Programs and Features icon there, here it is, launch it:
A window will open with all installed programs; don’t just delete anything here! Well, that is, don’t delete just anything, because there may be glitches and all sorts of mistakes! In this list, find Microsoft Silverlight, right-click and select Uninstall:
Then the following message will pop up, here you click Yes (well, if you haven’t changed your mind, of course):
Then the following window will appear:
The entire removal probably took me about ten seconds. But, in the window, well, where the list of software is, I personally still have Microsoft Silverlight versions 4 SDK and 5 SDK:
They also need to be removed, but they are removed in the same way as the first version, where there is no SDK. In general, I think that you will not have problems with this
How to clean Windows after uninstalling Microsoft Silverlight?
In general, you uninstalled Microsoft Silverlight, but it is possible that there are remnants of this program in Windows. You can clean Windows of these residues, see how to do it. So first I'll show you how to remove file junk. This means you open the system drive and there in the upper right in the search field write the name of the program, that is, Microsoft Silverlight (if you just use the word Silverlight, the results will be less accurate):
You will find folders of files that belong to the Microsoft Silverlight component, although we have already removed it. All this CAN be deleted, BUT before that, make a checkpoint, here’s a look at how to create it. Whether to create it or not is up to you; there may be jambs after removing the remains, but this is rare. But if anything happens, then using a previously created restore point, you can return everything to the way it was. In general, guys, I warned you!
Well, here’s everything that was found on your system disk, all of it relates to Microsoft Silverlight and it can be deleted. To immediately save yourself from the problems of one being deleted and the other not, I suggest you install the utility. This utility helps you remove even things that you don’t want to be removed. But you can also delete it in a simple way by simply selecting Delete from the menu. In general, I selected all the folders, well, I completely forgot to select all the bottom two, and then I right-clicked on them and selected the Unlocker option (I already have the utility installed):
Then I select Delete from the menu and click OK:
Unlocker started deleting everything that I had selected and, to be honest, it was a little scary, because even this message popped up, then I clicked Yes:
In general, it deleted a lot of things, I really felt like all the roots of Microsoft Silverlight were being torn out of Windows... The fear still did not leave me, because for some reason I advised you to make a restore point, but I didn’t do it myself... Well, that’s it...
This is how it was removed for about five minutes:
In general, everything went well, now I’ll do a reboot to check later that there will be no glitches and jambs in Windows... I did a short reboot, launched the browsers and everything seems to be working fine. There were no errors, folders opened normally, in general Windows worked fine
So I won’t be 100% sure, but deleting file junk seems to be safe!
Now I will show you how to remove junk from the registry that is left over from Microsoft Silverlight
So look, hold down the Win + R buttons and write the following command there:
And click OK:
The registry editor will open; do not delete anything there for no reason. This is where we will look for garbage. To do this, hold down the Ctrl + F buttons and write there something like:
Microsoft Silverlight
In principle, you can just use the word Silverlight.. But with the full name the accuracy will be higher..
That's it, after this the search will begin. Anything that is selected later can be deleted. These can be either folders (on the left) or keys (on the right). Right-click on them and select Delete. Then press the F3 button to continue the search and so on until there is a message that the search is over! For example, I found some DisplayName key, if you double-click on it, you will see this:
That is, you see, even if there is not a word about Microsoft Silverlight in the name, it will still be inside! What I mean is that they are searched not only by name, but also by content, so rest assured that everything that is found is definitely related to Silverlight and can be deleted! In general, here is an example of how to delete a key:
I didn’t find any trash folders, but deleting it is just as easy, right-click on it and select Delete!
As you can see, everything is simple. If you do everything exactly as I wrote, then there will be no errors. Well, if you have doubts, then it’s better not to do anything at all, the stability of Windows is more important! But the most ideal option is to make a recovery checkpoint! Let me remind you once again that I wrote about this!
By the way, this way I also removed the Avast antivirus and cleaned out the trash can after it, if you’re interested!
Well, all the guys, good luck to you, I wish you a good mood and that you don’t have any problems!
18.08.2016Developing its strategy of global competition with other ICT “monsters”, Microsoft worked hard to create a new software product - media technology for creating and broadcasting web applications and media content on the World Wide Web - Silverlight. By using Microsoft Silverlight You can access multimedia content on websites using your Internet browser. This technology was immediately called a competitor Adobe Flash.
First beta Silverlight was released in December 2006.
At the beginning of September 2007 it was released Silverlight v.1.0.
What's happened Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser and cross-platform development that is designed to create and demonstrate various media applications via the World Wide Web. Silverlight is a browser add-on (plugin) that runs on operating systems Mac OS X And Windows, with browsers Internet Explorer, Firefox And Safari. Silverlight supports XAML And JavaScript(starting from version 1.1 support was added .NET).
Silverlight allows you to play WMV, WMA And MP3 in all supported browsers (without requiring additional components such as Windows Media Player).
Brief explanations
XAML(abbreviated from English) eXtensible Application Markup Language) – platform interface language Windows Vista, which is used to describe, first of all, the user interface. XAML includes four main categories of elements: panels, controls, document-related elements, and graphic shapes. XAML widely used in .NET Framework 3.0.
Microsoft .NET Framework– software technology designed for creating both regular programs and web applications. First proposed by the corporation as a development platform Microsoft. One of the main ideas Microsoft .NET is the compatibility of different services written in different languages. Just like technology Java, development environment .NET creates bytecode intended for execution by a virtual machine.
JavaScript– a scripting language based on the language Java.
Etymology of the name
silver(English) – silver, silvery.
light(English) – light.
Platform development Silverlight
October 13, 2008 Microsoft officially presented the version Silverlight 2.0. This version contains many innovations, the main ones relating to data security, greater accessibility and work with a larger number of source data formats. Content owners Microsoft hopes to attract new built-in digital rights management system DRM production company PlayReady. Silverlight 2 Available for three major operating systems – Windows, Mac And Linux.
Simultaneously with the presentation of the new product, the corporation announced a new initiative to work with opensource- the community, in particular in Eclipse Foundation libraries and codes were sent to work with Sliverlight 2 in open source software. Published under license Microsoft Permissive License development kit Silverlight Control Pack (SCP) should expand the use of development Microsoft V Linux.
"We released Silverlight 1 a little over a year ago, and already every fourth Internet user has the plugin installed on his PC Silverlight. The new version of this system represents a radical improvement for both users and web application developers,” said Scott Guthrie ( Scott Guthrie), corporate vice president .NET Developer Division, presenting Silverlight 2.
Six months after its release, the platform Silverlight 2.0 has been downloaded and installed more than 300 million times, and is used by over 400 thousand developers and designers.
March 18, 2009 Microsoft introduced a beta version Silverlight 3.0.
The beta version adds support for new animation features, 3D graphics, and video standards H.264, audio coding standard Advanced Audio Coding (A.A.C.) and GPU accelerators ( GPU). The quality of text display and the use of effects based on hardware acceleration has been improved. Users can rotate and zoom streaming content. This feature also allows you to create 3D queues and transitions.
Web applications can now run without using a web browser, directly on Desktop. Technology has also been improved Smooth Streaming, allowing you to play videos on the Internet without delays. Smooth Streaming automatically adjusts video quality depending on the channel speed and processor load. Added support for playing full-screen high-definition video Full HD(with a resolution of 720 pixels and higher).
Application Silverlight
According to representatives Microsoft, usage Silverlight will significantly reduce the costs of creating interactive web services, since the development is easily integrated with existing technologies (for example, with the format Windows Media).
Silverlight can display high-resolution video and maintains high-quality HD-video. By using Expression Studio And Visual Studio, website designers and developers can create their own internet applications using Silverlight.
Promoting Silverlight, Microsoft entered into partnership agreements with many popular portals and integrated a web player based on Silverlight. Thus, Microsoft came into direct conflict with Adobe Flash, on the basis of which, for example, one of the most popular portal web players on the Internet works YouTube.
As stated by Brian Goldfarb ( Brian Goldfarb), product group manager Microsoft, the corporation intends to actively negotiate with many media companies in order to persuade them to use Silverlight when publishing multimedia content on the Internet.
By using Silverlight The inaugurations of Presidents Medvedev (in particular, the Vesti channel) and Obama, as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, were broadcast on the Internet. It is already known that the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will also be broadcast on the basis Silverlight.
– download and run the installation file;
- in the window Install Silverlight click the button Install now;
– after a short installation process a window will appear Installation successfull –> Close;
– restart the browser;
– you can use the plugin.
Update Microsoft Silverlight
If you do not change the settings in the configuration window Silverlight, program Microsoft Silverlight will periodically check the website for updates Microsoft to provide users with the latest features and improvements. At the same time, in Microsoft A request is sent containing standard information about the computer. After this, a small file containing information about the latest version Microsoft Silverlight, will be downloaded to the user's computer and compared with the currently installed version. If a new version is available Microsoft Silverlight, then it will be downloaded and installed on your computer.
How to change update settings Microsoft Silverlight
– Right-click the content displayed in Microsoft Silverlight, and select Silverlight Configuration;
– go to the tab Updates;
– select one of the following options:
Install updates automatically (recommended). In this case, all patches, new features, and updates are automatically installed on your computer. This option is used in Microsoft Silverlight default;
Check for updates, but let me choose whether to download and install them. In this case, notifications will be displayed when updates are ready to be downloaded and installed on your computer;
Do not check for updates (not recommended). In this case, notifications about the release of hotfixes (including security fixes), new features, and updates will not appear.
You can configure Group Policy to disable automatic updates Microsoft Silverlight. To do this, in the section [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Silverlight] should be created REG_DWORD-parameter UpdateMode with meaning 0x00000002. After this, your computer will not automatically check for updates. Microsoft Silverlight.
But still…
Of course, in technologies like Adobe Flash And Microsoft Silverlight, the most exciting, spectacular and interesting thing is animation. By creating bright, beautiful, picturesque effects, animation “revitalizes” web applications and makes them interactive!..
…Although Microsoft strongly promotes Silverlight, still technology Adobe Flash so far remains unsurpassed and unshakable. But who knows what will happen in our Bright Digital Future?!.
Notes
4. Browser will receive official support Silverlight in subsequent versions (although the hackers could not stand it and unofficially “attached” Silverlight To Opera).
5. For OS Linux corporation Microsoft develops Silverlight(entitled Moonlight) together with the company Novell.
6. Minimum system requirements for installation Silverlight:
– Windows: processor (x86 or x64) with a clock frequency of at least 500 MHz; 128 MB RAM;
– Mac OS 10.4.8+ (PowerPC): processor PowerPC G4 with a clock frequency of at least 800 MHz; 128 MB RAM;
– Mac OS 10.4.8+ (Intel): processor Intel Core Duo with a clock frequency of at least 1.83 GHz; 128 MB RAM.
Valery Sidorov
While working on the Internet, we often come across references to Microsoft Silverlight, which is so necessary for the operation of some player or control element on the page that interests us. So what is it and what is it for?
Microsoft Silverlight, along with the well-known Adobe Flash, is a software base or so-called platform that makes it possible to place audio and video recordings, animated graphics and various interactive RIA (Rich Internet Application) applications on Internet services. Support for this software platform is implemented both in Windows (starting with Windows 2000), and MacOS, Linux and Symbian. Silverlight includes a browser plugin that allows you to work with Internet applications in the most popular browsers such as Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Currently, most browsers for mobile devices also support this technology. Thanks to the introduction and widespread use of Silverlight, colorfully designed and fully interactive Internet resources of the Web 2.0 standard have appeared. In other words, we have almost full-fledged programs that are not inferior in functionality to regular applications on our computer, but can be launched directly from the window of our favorite browser.
The advantages of Microsoft Silverlight include:
- the ability to install the plugin on any Windows, MacOS or Linux system;
- the plugin is completely free;
- installs in just 10 seconds and weighs only 4 megabytes;
- support for playing high-definition video recordings;
- support for playing video and audio of popular formats in a browser window without using Windows Media Player;
- programs that run in a browser window do not need to be installed;
- You can access your favorite application from any computer connected to the network;
- a program that is not installed on a computer is much more difficult to infect with a virus;
- your favorite applications no longer need to be updated; this is done automatically by the developer himself.
And one more benefit for developers: any text written in Silverlight-based applications can be indexed and will be available to search engines. Adobe Flash couldn't do that.
But not everything is as simple and smooth as we would like. There are a number of shortcomings that prevent applications written on this platform from completely replacing the programs we are familiar with.
Among these disadvantages are:
- the capabilities of programs are still very limited, since they cannot gain full access to computer resources (web applications are launched in a special so-called sandbox, that is, a strictly isolated safe environment);
- when first launched, Silverlight places its engine in the browser cache, so the application can take a long time to open, especially on weak computers;
- it is impossible to run the application on a computer not connected to the Internet;
- With each new version, the complexity of programming in the Silverlight environment increases.
In the end, I would like to give a few examples of websites and Internet applications created using Silverlight technology:
Joe Rassic is a fighting game where dinosaurs act as fighters;
Pre-Columbian Artifacts is a virtual museum in which each exhibit can be examined in detail;
Warstory - tactical strategy about the Second World War;
In addition, the well-known widgets for the Windows Vista sidebar and Windows 7 desktop are also written using Microsoft Silverlight technology.