Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#81

Post by avar » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:23 PM UTC

generalk wrote: post #72

avar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bing Maps requires Silverlight for some features. I found that out when I tried Bing recently, but found that Microsoft is more interested in pushing their own technology than pushing their search engine. Microsoft also recently did a project with NASA that requires Silverlight. Thanks, Microsoft.

To be fair, if you wrote a browser plugin like Silverlight, wouldn't you do the majority of your projects in it?

The effort to port it to Flash or JavaScript as a fallback mechanism is hardly a major undertaking for a company like Microsoft.

That they're doing this when that means blocking out a huge portion of users on Bing Maps when their main competitor has no such portability problems I think says a great deal about their priorities.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#82

Post by trezor » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:26 PM UTC

I find Silverlight less offensive and obtrusive than Flash, but probably not for the normal reasons.

Since every single online advertiser out there uses Flash to make the most Flashy (no pun intended) ads to grab your attention, I promptly install Flashblock on any new machine I work on.

Silverlight however seems to have too low adaptation for it to be useful or "bulletproof" for advertisers, so whenever I get on a site actually using Silverlight, it's for something I need or want (video, interactive games, apps, etc).

I'm aware of that HTML5 covers part of that game pretty well by now, but still I find it non-obtrusive enough and generally don't mind. It's security-record and stability compared to Flash would be another reason not to mind it, but even to me, a techie, that's really secondary.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#83

Post by nuclear_eclipse » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:27 PM UTC

mike_h wrote: post #2

Netflix requires it last I checked -- that's the only reason I'm aware of for having it.

Does Netflix work with Moonlight on Linux? I would loze to be using Netflix on my second monitor while playing games or just surfing the net, but they don't support Linux... :(

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#84

Post by kingofspain » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:31 PM UTC

mseebach wrote: post #75

jasonkester wrote: post #15

There are just so few sites that require Sliverlight that I find myself mildly offended when I come across one that tries to make me install it. Who are you, telling me to install something just to view your website? Good day, sir. Funny that that's never been my experience with Flash. Flash sites are horrible and I avoid them if I can, but Flash can socially engineer its way onto my machine through cool little in-br…

Ryanairs route map requires Silverlight. I wonder if whatever Microsoft paid for that is more than lost revenue from customers exploring potential destinations.

Ryanair probably don't care. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if they chose it purposefully to make things difficult. The more hoops you're willing to jump through, the more they can generally get away with. Plus never underestimate the lengths people will go to for a £1 flight (I include myself in that, even though every part of my being tells me I'm being ridiculous).

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#85

Post by PhrosTT » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:50 PM UTC

Browser Penetration is at 62%... guess HN hates MS extra hard.

http://www.riastats.com/

And for all the haters... it's better than flash.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#86

Post by PhrosTT » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 1:52 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #52

jasonkester wrote: post #15

There are just so few sites that require Sliverlight that I find myself mildly offended when I come across one that tries to make me install it. Who are you, telling me to install something just to view your website? Good day, sir. Funny that that's never been my experience with Flash. Flash sites are horrible and I avoid them if I can, but Flash can socially engineer its way onto my machine through cool little in-br…

Bing Maps requires Silverlight for some features. I found that out when I tried Bing recently, but found that Microsoft is more interested in pushing their own technology than pushing their search engine. Microsoft also recently did a project with NASA that requires Silverlight. Thanks, Microsoft.

the SL enabled Bing Maps is amazing. Try it if you haven't. - hit the 3D button.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#87

Post by Roboprog » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 2:01 PM UTC

nuclear_eclipse wrote: post #83

mike_h wrote: post #2

Netflix requires it last I checked -- that's the only reason I'm aware of for having it.

Does Netflix work with Moonlight on Linux? I would loze to be using Netflix on my second monitor while playing games or just surfing the net, but they don't support Linux... :(

Just so you all know, the Netflix browse / order interface works fine w/out Silverlight. But instant watch requires Silverlight with full DRM (so, alas, not Moonlight on Linux). This is the main reason I have a few dual boot PCs. I dislike Microsoft, but not to the point of shooting my own foot.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#88

Post by adlep » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 2:01 PM UTC

ajuc wrote: post #46

jasonkester wrote: post #15

There are just so few sites that require Sliverlight that I find myself mildly offended when I come across one that tries to make me install it. Who are you, telling me to install something just to view your website? Good day, sir. Funny that that's never been my experience with Flash. Flash sites are horrible and I avoid them if I can, but Flash can socially engineer its way onto my machine through cool little in-br…

So far I only encountered 1 site that required silverlight to work (onet.pl public video streaming), I have linux, so I installed moonlight, it almost worked, but then I've learned that they also use some DRM that only works on Mac and Windows (also - it told me firefox is not supported :)). For me using silverlight is like telling people to keep away.

Greetings to a fellow Pole. "Jak sie masz?"

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#89

Post by ergo98 » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 2:02 PM UTC

PhrosTT wrote: post #85

Browser Penetration is at 62%... guess HN hates MS extra hard. http://www.riastats.com/ And for all the haters... it's better than flash.

"And for all the haters... it's better than flash."

Silverlight is a me-too Flash clone that came at a time when Flash is a barely-tolerated but waning evil. It is by a company that has a severe conflicts of interest problem.

It isn't hate, and you don't have to be a hater, to see the incredible problem with it.

Re: Poll: Do you have Silverlight installed?

#90

Post by tsuraan » Mon, Oct 04, 2010, 2:03 PM UTC

makmanalp wrote: post #38

jasonkester wrote: post #15

There are just so few sites that require Sliverlight that I find myself mildly offended when I come across one that tries to make me install it. Who are you, telling me to install something just to view your website? Good day, sir. Funny that that's never been my experience with Flash. Flash sites are horrible and I avoid them if I can, but Flash can socially engineer its way onto my machine through cool little in-br…

AFAIK netflix requires silverlight nowadays.

I believe netflix PC streaming requires silverlight, but I know their general site doesn't. The silverlight requirement for streaming probably isn't something people usually even notice, since they also stream to roku, xbox, ps3, and a ton of televisions have the ability built-in.