Office Home And Stude/nt 2010 Final Silverlight 2.

Microsoft is nearing the finish line together with the two.0 releases of both the Windows and Mac OS X variations of its Silverlight competitor to Adobe Flash.
Late final week, Microsoft launched the very first public Release Candidate (RC) test builds of Silverlight 2.0 for Windows and Mac OS X. The new RC 0 create just isn't developed for finish people; it really is aimed specifically at developers. As explained around the official Silverlight web page:
“Silverlight two Release Candidate 0 (Silverlight two RC0) is now available to developers for testing purposes and to help prepare your Silverlight 2 Beta two applications for the release of Silverlight 2.”
I;m hearing that Microsoft is shooting to release to the Internet the ultimate Windows and Mac versions of Silverlight two.0 around the first week or so of October. Microsoft had been shooting to deliver the last Silverlight two.0 release this past summer, according to a Microsoft blogger who published the internal Silverlight timetable to his blog.
The Softies aren;t commenting on the final release date,Office Home And Stude/nt 2010, beyond Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie;s blogged comment that the last release is “not that far off now.” More from Guthrie;s September 25 post:
“If you have existing (Silverlight) Beta2 applications, please start getting them ready for the final release - as once we release Silverlight 2,Microsoft Office Professional 2010, customers that have existing beta releases installed will automatically be upgraded to use the last version. Testing your application out with all the release candidate will ensure that you can easily update your applications and have them ready within hours of the ultimate release.”
Microsoft officials have said MIcrosoft planned to support a variety of operating systems and browsers with Silverlight. The company launched the Beta two version of Silverlight 2 for the Mac in June. Microsoft has given Novell its blessing (and some help) around the Silverlight port to Linux,Cheap Office 2010, codenamed “Moonlight.” The first public check build of Moonlight (the Silverlight 1.0 port) was launched in May 2008. The version of Moonlight supporting Silverlight 2.0 is in “pre-alpha” at this point.
Still no official word on when Microsoft will release a test version of Silverlight for Windows Mobile…. I bet we;ll hear more on that at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in late October. Microsoft has said the very first release of Silverlight for Mobile will be based about the Silverlight 1.0 release.
Update: Microsoft is holding sessions at PDC on porting Silverlight 2.0 apps to Windows Mobile, one reader notes. From the PDC session list:

“In this demo-filled session learn how to extend your existing Silverlight two applications to work on Windows Mobile and how to construct rich mobile Silverlight apps that access device peripherals such as camera; GPS or WiFi or the radio stack for location; as well as mobile web services. We also talk about tooling enhancements in Microsoft Visual Studio that support Silverlight app development on Windows Mobile,Office Home And Business, what to consider when delivering eye-popping UI on mobile, and help you understand the key differences from developing Silverlight apps for the desktop.”

I;m also curious what Microsoft will/won;t say at the PDC about how Silverlight jibes with Live Mesh, the company;s synchronization platform/service. As Softie Scott Hanselman has noted, there does seem to be some connection between the two technologies. When I asked Microsoft for comment,Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, I got back this statement from a company spokesperson:
“The Live Mesh tech preview and the Live Platform are designed to connect customers with their applications, data and folks from any device. Silverlight is a highly effective way to bring common experiences to multiple devices/platforms (including in our own Live Desktop experience.) In the near future, we;ll have more to say about how 3rd parties can create Silverlight-based applications for the Live Platform.”
Anyone been kicking the Silverlight 2.0 tires? What do/don;t you like?