Silverlight 2.0 Release Candidate its about time!!!

As the Olympics ended many were sad they have to wait another 4 years but all the .NET
developers were excited as now the games really begin. Microsoft has now released the Silverlight 2.0 Release Candidate that it ran in beta for the games.

You can now download it at:

http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/sl2rc0.aspx

I am very much looking forward to the promised fixes such as easier install of the plug-in, better performance and all the other features. I am downloading it as I write. I will update you on my findings.

If you have already started to use it please comment on this posting and I will publish your findings too. You can also email them to me at susan@clinchportal.com

Perpetual Beginner

For those just learning some of the newer technologies such as subsonic, linq, mvc, etc this is going to be fast becoming the place to go. It is definitely a blog to keep an eye on. The perpetual beginner, Jesse Naiman, will soon be a name you will remember.

Here is the link to his blog: http://alt-net-guild.blogspot.com/

Moonlight: Silverlight for Linux

For those interested in Linux and Silverlight, it looks like the Mono folks have an answer.

http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/09/moonlight-silverlight-for-linu.html

http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight

Why Silverlight is still not ready for the big game

We were still up in the air about SilverLight over Flash for different reasons. We currently use Flash 9. Here are the big issues that are stopping our transition:

1) In flash you can use the div method so you can use alternate content for the user if they do not have flash. Most people use the download flash message but in some cases where flash is used to enrich the experience in the case of a menu. you can always show them an html menu instead. In Silverlight it

2) The second issue is that expression blend does not support source control.

Fixing these issues will make Silverlight a lot more usable.

Trouble installing Visual Studio or .net Framework

I was having trouble installing Visual Studio 2008 after installing earlier betas of it.
Unfortunately the uninstall in add/remove programs was broken. I came across this tool and used it to remove the older frameworks. I thought I would pass it on:

http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/04/08/406671.aspx

Maven Collaborates with Microsoft for Next-Generation Internet TV Experiences Using Microsoft Silverlight

Looks like Silverlight is starting to gain momentum, Making it the best time to get in.
Below is an article on Microsoft and Maven teaming up:

http://miranda.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=151114

I think we will see a lot more of these pairing in the next few months as SilverLight and Orca go in to full releases.

Silverlight and Intellisense

I came across this article that discusses getting visual studio to show the intellisense for
Silverlight development:

http://blog.benhall.me.uk/2007/05/silverlight-10-intellisense-in-visual.html

If you know any Tips or Tricks I can add to this blog please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com