Microsoft will be releasing its Silverlight 2.0 this Tuesday. The upgrade on the Adobe Flash technology rival will be easier to those who have the application already installed.

There are a few additions to this flash-like program sequel. One of them is the inclusion of Silverlight DRM. Silverlight DRM is a management protocol that aims to make management of digital-rights easier.

The application of Silverlight technology is best illustrated in the recent coverage of the Beijing Olympics where thru NBCOlympics.com more than 70 million unique video streams where done. The technology was appreciated by more than 50 million internet viewers who watched video coverage of the momentous sports gathering. Microsoft also stated that CBS College Sports, Blockbuster, Hard Rock Cafe, Yahoo Japan, AOL, Toyota, HSN and Tencent highly support the Silverlight project by sharing up their own “their next-generation experiences” about the application.

Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft boasted the early popularity of the protocol, saying that one out of every four computers worldwide already have Silverlight running on their system.

The new Silverlight 2.0 has brand new skinning capabilities, which means that you can customize how the site will look and feel. Microsoft also incorporated a deep zoom capability that permits users to zoom in on high-resolution imagery. Silverlight can now also run on Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer.

Microsoft also highlighted on their press release that the new Silverlight has progressive download and streaming options.

Source: PCMag