Mix 08 technology recap

Microsofts annual Mix conference showed some interesting new developments in the web space. Even though 99% of FileMobile's technology is based on open source software, Microsofts products and developments are very relevant to us.

First off, naturally the browser. IE usage is still the biggest piece of the pie for the general audience. IE is sadly also known for not being standards compatible, resulting in hacking around IE's flaws in nearly every application we build. Microsoft has shown steps in the right direction by fixing some of the major flaws in IE7, but version 8 of the browser shows a lot of promise to fix every single flaw.

Additionally, they're also adding new features such as 'activities' and 'web slices', which seem like exciting new features to enhance the users browsing experience. Anyone who's interested can download the beta version from the Microsoft site.

The other major new technology that got a lot of attention was the release of the Silverlight 2 beta. Silverlight can be seen as an alternative to Adobe Flash. The biggest advantage of flash, and the reason we're using it is because the flash plugin is installed on more than 98% of all computers connected to the internet. Feature-wise, it was also ahead of other technologies, but after what I saw about Silverlight 2, I got the feeling flash was falling behind.

Some of the bigger reasons for this is the developer/designer workflow; which they seem to have absolutely nailed. Also, new features in video delivery are very exciting for us, as it becomes possible to dynamically change the quality of the video as its playing, depending on the users' connection. The video-streaming interfaces in IIS 7 seem to be quite a bit ahead from Adobe's Flash Media Server.

For us the biggest wait before we'll consider switching to Silverlight will be the install-base, which is very low as of right now. As long as Microsoft will keep throwing marketing dollars to it, this might be the near future. The same really goes for IE8; we would love to make use of the advanced new features and fix the pain associated with older versions, and we're really happy microsoft is making the effort, but only after 95% of IE users are on IE8, we have to keep supporting the older stuff.

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