Now Microsoft is slowing Silverlight development and turning its attention to web standards such as HTML5.
RIM's strategy is obviously riding on highly portable Adobe AIR apps and Flash support in the browser (much like Microsoft's Silverlight app strategy for Windows Phone 7), and we look forward to seeing just how well that playbook plays out in the PlayBook.
As Netflix acknowledged with its announcement on digital distribution, a dedicated device is but one -- and should be among the lowest volume -- of a wide range of devices on which the company's "Watch Instantly" service is available, including some Blu-ray players, the Xbox 360, PCs and Macs, and in theory any device that supports Microsoft's Silverlight technology.
You can't even install Microsoft's own Silverlight browser plugin, which should be the final nail in that platform's coffin.
In that interview, he said Silverlight was still "core" to Microsoft but the company was looking to other technologies such as HTML to get its software running on devices people use to get at online sites and services.
Not everyone is thrilled with Adobe's AIR or Microsoft's similar technology, called Silverlight.
When first announced Silverlight was portrayed as a rival to Flash and key to getting Microsoft software running on many different devices.
Developers say Microsoft has "betrayed" them by changing strategy on the Silverlight web technology.
And Microsoft will probably make piles more with new software, dubbed Silverlight, that can be used to craft online applications that mix video and other forms of rich media.
Microsoft has only said it would talk about a release date for Silverlight 5 "in the coming months".
Silverlight also made it easier for developers to hook into the many back office systems Microsoft produces to help enrich the services that could be put online.
The furore kicked off by Mr Muglia's comments also led Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer to underscore the software giant's commitment to Silverlight technology in a statement of his own.
In actuality that's just the tablet that Microsoft has been using at Computex to demo its new Windows Embedded Compact 7 supporting Silverlight for Windows Embedded, Flash 10.1, and multitouch within the browser.
ENGADGET: Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet prototype preview
Microsoft has also lined up Major League Baseball and the Democratic National Convention to run Web videos on Silverlight.
Microsoft has countered Adobe's AIR and Flex technologies with its own development tools called Live Mesh and Silverlight. (Sun Microsystems in May launched similar technology called JavaFX, and Google has a tool out called Gears.) Microsoft has 4 million software developers already using its .
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