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Silverlight
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SEGMAT
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October 1, 2008 - 2:56 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2008
Forum Posts: 70
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Hey all,

What exactly is Silverlight? There are reports of it being more popular than Flash and stuff, but I really have no idea what it is. Is it Microsoft's answer to Flash, and if so, then why do I still need Flash when I have Silverlight via Windows Update? If not, then what is it?!

Thanks,

Matt

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Chad Johnson
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October 1, 2008 - 11:08 pm
Member Since: August 11, 2011
Forum Posts: 867
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Simply put, it is Microsoft's answer to Flash.

But....

... a site has to use Silverlight in order for you not to need flash.

And a site using Flash, won't work with Silverlight.

Leave it to Microsoft to make everything confusing.

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SEGMAT
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October 1, 2008 - 11:12 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2008
Forum Posts: 70
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Thanks for clarifying that, although I see this as a really stupid move on Microsoft's part then, because who is going to switch to something totally new like Silverlight when Flash is doing the job just fine for everyone! Who is going to change their sites to require Silverlight instead of Flash?!

Matt

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David Hartsock
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October 2, 2008 - 1:17 am
Member Since: August 7, 2011
Forum Posts: 1117
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Matt,

There are those who would say Flash isn't doing to job. Look at it like MS Office vs. OpenOffice. Not that one is free and one isn't, but they both perform similar functions. However, the differences appeal to various people. Some prefer OO and some prefer MS.

There has been a pretty good response from the developer community concerning Silverlight. In fact NBC used silverlight for the summer olympics.

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SEGMAT
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October 2, 2008 - 9:56 am
Member Since: September 26, 2008
Forum Posts: 70
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Oh, OK... I didn't know that. In a way though, I guess it really doesn't matter as most of us have Flash installed already and most of us also have Silverlight installed via Windows Update so either way we can still view the content, I was just wondering why there would be a duplicate of a program of that kind, why Microsoft would create something like Flash when Flash is already established. But you're right about comparing it to OO and MSOffice, I just never thought about it that way.

Matt

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Chad Johnson
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October 2, 2008 - 8:48 pm
Member Since: August 11, 2011
Forum Posts: 867
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or compare it to Linux/ OS X / Windows.

I still have not installed Silverlight. I haven't missed anything.

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Mindblower
Montreal, Canada
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October 5, 2008 - 8:21 am
Member Since: September 17, 2008
Forum Posts: 681
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I've not read any good things about Silverlight, just the ususal stay away from it ....

Since there are programs which can clear the tracks of Flash (not heard about any that deal with Silverlight), I'm also staying away (just my 2 cents worth), Mindblower!

"For the needy, not the greedy"

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SEGMAT
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October 5, 2008 - 9:50 am
Member Since: September 26, 2008
Forum Posts: 70
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I have never thought about that... clearing the tracks. Do you guys feel that's a big deal? That never even crossed my mind while thinking about it, I just installed all the updates through Windows Update, I generally find things work better that way (GENERALLY!). Maybe this is a big deal, I don't know but I'm curious.

Matt

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Mindblower
Montreal, Canada
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October 5, 2008 - 2:41 pm
Member Since: September 17, 2008
Forum Posts: 681
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The first time I read about what is stored in the FLASH (part of the Adobe Flash Player), I was very nieve as well. Then I went to a site which showed me everything that was stored (what a nightmare if you are concerned about cookies and what they can tell about your browsing habits). Now I clear daily, sometimes several times (depending how much browsing I do - i.e. various sites), and believe it's in everyones best interest, Mindblower!

"For the needy, not the greedy"

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Chad Johnson
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October 6, 2008 - 9:13 am
Member Since: August 11, 2011
Forum Posts: 867
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VLC player will play flash sites as well as most other media types. I'm not sure about how much of your data it shares, but it is open source, and, in my opinion, a superior player.

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Mindblower
Montreal, Canada
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October 6, 2008 - 10:13 am
Member Since: September 17, 2008
Forum Posts: 681
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Those wishing to read up a bit on the Flash Player and all that what goes bump in the night can do so using this link [u:1dwby7ce]http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html[/u:1dwby7ce] . Happy reading, Mindblower!

PS I tried to make the link directly accessible, but that failed. Just cut and paste the underlined section and it still works. My cleaner of many years (ClearProg) does remove the Flash Player traces, Mindblower!

"For the needy, not the greedy"

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OldElmerFudd
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April 13, 2009 - 3:37 pm
Member Since: December 7, 2008
Forum Posts: 166
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Late as usual.
MB's link about Flash Player seems to be broken after all these months (surprise!), but the reference is to Local Shared Objects, courtesy of Adobe. Clearing your browser cache helps, and going into Docs & Settings>Administrator>Application Data>Macromedia will help you locate the .sol files that act like super cookies. Take a look it this for a starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....red_Object

Re Silverlight: I haven't looked at it since it was first announced. The Silverlight forums indicate a lot of user frustration, but afaict, that typical of Microsoft. After all, their business model seems to be based on releasing software that end users ultimately act as beta testers for during its life cycle.

2 penny Ron

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