Microsoft Silverlight 5.1.50918.0

Microsoft Silverlight is a versatile browser plugin that offers a wide range of interactive media experiences, immersive mobile apps, and rich business applications. Developed by Microsoft, it aims to provide a unified media experience across various platforms.

Similar to Adobe Flash, Silverlight serves as an all-purpose development tool for streaming videos, live streams, vibrant graphics, and animations to devices. It heavily relies on Microsoft's XAML, a text-based markup language for user interfaces, vector graphics, and animations. Additionally, it is built on Microsoft's .NET framework, allowing developers to utilize any tool that supports the .NET language.

One of the key features of Silverlight is its ability to enable rich animations using Windows-based formats. It supports a wide range of media formats, including Windows Media Video (WMV), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Advanced Audio Coding, MPG3, and H.264, across all supported browsers without the need for traditional Windows-based players. However, it's important to note that the licensing for VC-1 video and H.264 is limited to personal and non-commercial use.

Furthermore, Silverlight allows the loading of Extendable Markup Language (XML) contents that can be manipulated through a Document Object Model (DOM) interface. The program also provides a downloader object, which facilitates the downloading of various content such as media assets, scripts, or other data required by the application.

While Silverlight initially gained popularity and was widely used by major partners like NBC for streaming events such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in 2010, its success has been short-lived. The project faced challenges in keeping up with competitors and encountered issues that deterred developers from adopting it. Flash and JavaScript, being more comfortable and widely accepted, were often preferred by media outlets and partners.

Moreover, the use of a web browser plugin like Silverlight comes with certain disadvantages. Users need to install the plugin before streaming, and there are potential security and privacy risks associated with installing such plugins. Additionally, not all streaming services utilize Silverlight, which may discourage users from installing it. As a result, popular streaming services like Netflix have started transitioning from Silverlight to HTML5.

Microsoft has announced that Silverlight will officially end its run in 2021, with no further support or updates. The installer will no longer be available, marking the end of an era for this once-promising technology.