Hi Greg H I certainly agree that Silverlight is/was a great way to deliver impressive apps in the desktop browser. Because it was XAML and C# I barely had to learn anything new, I could sit down and churn it out (once you knocked through all the security walls of course). I know you put a lot of effort into Silverlight, we were all impressed with your timeline visualisation.
Does anyone know what the official lifetime of Silverlight is? Have releases and updates simply stopped so that it will quietly go stale and extinct on its own? Is there an official date for end of support? I ask because we are still writing and releasing significant apps and customers are going to ask us if Silverlight is dead (some already have apparently). What's the alternative to Silverlight for delivering browser apps with rich graphics and charts? Have options improved in the last year? *Greg K* On 12 February 2014 17:54, Greg Harris <[email protected]>wrote: > I do not think this was directed at me but here goes... > > > Start rant > > > @#$%^ing Microsoft has #$%^&ed me and the community on Silverlight, I > spent a few years 100% focused on Silverlight at a significant cost in time > and money, all now just wasted! > > > Today, I have a client that would 100% fit a Silverlight solution for > their line of business (LOB) application, but they are not willing to take > on Silverlight because of Microsoft's end of life perspective on the tool. > > > I would agree that it may not be the right cross platform tool for all > mobile devices, but I see no reason why MS cannot make a commitment to > future releases and ongoing support on Windows, Mac, Windows Phone and > Android. > > > I would not do the next version of Angry Birds with Silverlight, but I > would do most LOB apps with Silverlight. > > > Microsoft, you have made me angry, you have made my client's angry, you > have lost credibility, I do not trust you! Probably more fool me for ever > trusting you! > > > Microsoft, you could start to gain some credibility back by restoring > Silverlight to its rightful place as the tool of choice for client side > development in LOB apps with a commitment to maintain and support it for 20 > years into the future. > > > End rant > > > Regards > > Greg Harris > > > On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 5:48 PM, Greg Keogh <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Greg? Where are you? >>> This is your cue. >>> >> >> Ah! What! I'm awake ... I saw Silverlight mentioned as dead and >> abandoned. Guess what I've been doing all day today .. expanding a large >> Silverlight 5 app. We have no alternative, we've spent years developing the >> app and it's in use by some gigantic companies internationally. >> >> What the hell else can we do? Seriously! Discussion here last year >> pointed out that HTML5 is the only alternative to delivering rich apps on >> the browser desktop, but it groans under stress and I was warned that it >> just can't show attractive interactive charts of the type available with >> the ComponentOne SL libraries. >> >> Also, I have subscribed to MSDN Magazine (MSJ as it was) since 1993 and I >> agree that it is generally uninteresting these days because it's mostly >> about JavaScript, Stores, Azure, Windows RT and Windows 8 (the latest >> groovy stuff you're talking about). I find I flip through new issues and >> chuck them aside. I like academic articles, but Petzold's and McCaffrey's >> articles are so abstract they're in the twilight zone. >> >> My day to day development experience is consistently as infuriating and >> unpredictable as ever. Projects won't build, IIS goes haywire with code >> 500s, versions clash, dependencies are all over the shop, kits don't work, >> samples are simplistic, designers crash, I'm coding XAML UIs by hand, I >> have to learn WiX, I have to run VS2013 and VS2012 side by side due to COM >> problems, my VS2013 is diseased, and so on. I get up in the morning and the >> things that worked the night before are all on the fritz. Sometimes I miss >> punch cards. >> >> However, I don't want to fuel the jovial atmosphere of impending doom >> that pervades this forum ;-) >> >> Greg >> > >
