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Silverlight vs Flash vs HTML5, should I care?

Asked 2010-10-30T15:57:00.997
10

I have read a range of articles on advantages/disadvantages of Microsoft Silverlight framework in comparisson to Flash.

Fact that there were two version of Silverlight in the past 18 months worries me, as well as the fact that over 97% of web browsers already have Flash pre-installed.

I'm a .NET developer and I'm very happy with what I can do in the framework. At the moment I feel like I have to put my own preference to a side and decide whether I need to integrage flash with .NET instead of using Silverlight with WPF.

Did anybody try integrating Flash with .NET? What challanges did you come across? How easy was it in comparisson to working in Silverlight?

I have also read about recent talks between Microsoft and Adobe. Whatever way I go It feels very unstable. Can HTML 5 really compete with what's offered by Flash and Silverlight?

Thank you

silverlight flash html rich-internet-application
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This is basically the way I pick web technologies:

  • do you need to support every available platform made now, in the past and in the future? HTML4 (yes, 4!)
  • Do you have to make stuff that is not possible with HTML4, and are ready to sacrifice some user base? HTML5
  • Can you limit yourself to desktop users (no mobile devices) and need a very interactive application (more so than a "website")? Flash or Silverlight
  • Do you need to integrate with .NET? Silverlight
  • Are you familiar with .NET (more so than Flash)? Silverlight
  • Do you want to reach the absolute maximum number of users? Flash
  • Do you know Flash/ActionScript (more so than .NET)? Flash
  • Do you need even more features than what Silverlight provides, and can you limit your deployment to intranets? WPF/XBAP

The whole debate around Silverlight being dead is completely flawed in my opinion: those that thought Silverlight would be completely multiplatform really were not connected with the reality: just by looking at Flash it was clear from the beginning that iOS & co. would never support Silverlight.

HTML5 will probably be the real "universal multiplatform" environment (what is HTML4 now), but with all the nightmares we all know of html. If you are targeting desktops and need more interactivity, better tooling, unit testing & co. then Flash and Silverlight will still be the first choice.

Silverlight's user base is quickly coming close to Flash, so between those two it really comes down to the one you know better and the ease of integration with an existing backend.

The fact that Silverlight got a new major version every 9 months until now is just a sign of how much they are pushing it. Now that it's reached a mature stage you can expect to see larger int

answered 2010-11-22T08:13:42.953

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