Silverlight vs. Adobe Flash - Which is Better: Silverlight or Adobe?
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When Microsoft released Silverlight 2.0 in October of 2008, MacWorldpublished anarticleproclaiming the fact that Silverlight's performance trumped that of Adobe. Subsequent comments by MacWorld readers regarding the article revealed that the Apple community did not concur with the findings. Since then, Silverlight 3.0 has come on the scene and Adobe has made some adjustments of their own, so the question still remains: which performs better? The answer? It depends.
Simply put, it depends on a single question: what type of solution are you after, one that emphasizesexperienceor a solution that emphasizesfunction? The relationship between experience and function is obviously interconnected; if a user has a poor experience with one, it will most likely lead to poor function and vice versa. That being said, in order to understand why the distinction between experience and function is important, users must look beyond the direct comparison between Silverlight and Flash and instead, focus on five important issues pertaining to the multimedia plug-ins:
Microsoft vs. Adobe
Microsoft platform vs. Adobe platform
Microsoft community vs. Adobe community
Microsoft tools (Expression Suite) vs. Adobe tools (Photoshop, Illustrator, CS4)
Microsoft Silverlight vs. Adobe Flash
Using these criteria as a form of judgment, it becomes very clear that Microsoft obviously has the edge in terms of function. The IT giant has -- and has always had -- a very deep base for building functional solutions, which goes way beyond what's currently available in Silverlight 3.0. Everything around Microsoft, including its history, platform, tools, and community is built specifically around function.
On the flip side of the coin, everything around Adobe is built around experience. As a user trying to determine whether Microsoft or Adobe is more ideal for your specific needs, it's also incredibly important to consider the role of the community. Silverlight isn't necessarily better at functional solutions, but the very successful company has a huge base of experience in building functional apps. If you need proof, just consider the 600,000 or so partners Microsoft has around the world. Adobe, not to be overshadowed, also has an endless array of experience-based solutions.
It's important to point out that as time goes by and as new technologies continue to evolve, both Microsoft and Adobe continue to evolve with the times. Microsoft is edging closer towards experience and their Silverlight program and Expression suite are evidence of this. Adobe is also edging closer to function, as the company's AIR and Flex programs are proof of their advancement.
It's not a matter of being able to definitively say that one is better than the other. It's up to each individual user to determine which meets their needs best and which provides them with a better online experience. One thing is certain, however: as long as these two companies are in existence, the look of the web and the experience of going online will always be interestingandinteractive.
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