Silverlight 2 announced

Microsoft has just (at 6pm on a Monday evening!) announced that we'll all be able to download Silverlight 2 tomorrow. Silverlight 2 will include the following features - cut straight from the press release, kids, with adjectives and unqualified hyperbole removed. Analysis to follow:

· .NET Framework support with a base class library. This is a compatible subset of the full .NET Framework.

· Built-in controls. These include DataGrid, ListBox, Slider, ScrollViewer, Calendar controls and more.

· Skinning and templating support.

· Zoom. This enables interactivity and navigation of imagery.

· Networking support. Out-of-the-box support allows calling REST, WS*/SOAP, POX, RSS and standard HTTP services, enabling users to create applications that integrate with existing back-end systems.

· Expanded .NET Framework language support. Silverlight 2 supports a variety of programming languages, including Visual Basic, C#, JavaScript, IronPython and IronRuby.

· Content protection. This now includes Silverlight DRM, powered by PlayReady, offering content protection for connected Silverlight experiences.

· Server scalability and advertiser support. This includes new streaming and progressive download capabilities, search engine optimization techniques, and in-stream advertising support.

And I'll leave these two untouched:

· Vibrant partner ecosystem. Visual Studio Industry Partners such as ComponentOne LLC, Infragistics Inc. and Telerik Inc. are providing products that further enhance developer capabilities when creating Silverlight applications using Visual Studio.

· Cross-platform and cross-browser support. This includes support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer.

Also - "one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight already installed", which has to be one of the more baffling statistics ever released. What does this mean? What are the actual numbers?

Let's find out tomorrow.