Modifying registry-based Silverlight policy settings

You can modify the Silverlight policy settings that apply to individual computers.

To modify registry-based Silverlight policy settings

1. Open Group Policy Object Editor by using one of the methods described in the Group Policy product documentation (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=67717). The method you use will depend on the GPO that you want to manage. One way to open Group Policy Object Editor is to click Start, click Run, and then enter Gpedit.msc. 2. Double-click Policy, and then double-click Computer Configuration. 3. Double-click Administrative Templates, double-click Windows Components, and then double-click Silverlight. 4. In the left pane, click the category you want to work with, and then in the right pane, double-click the item that you want to edit. 5. Click the Setting tab, and then configure the policy setting. Typical choices for a setting are Not Configured, Enabled, or Disabled. Some settings require you to make additional selections or enter additional information.

Registry-based Silverlight policy settings

The Silverlight control’s automatic update mechanism is independent of both the Windows Update and Microsoft Update mechanisms. Silverlight can be configured to use one of three automatic update modes:

1) Auto Updates - Automatically detects, downloads, and installs updates. This is the default setting after an install. The client will attempt to request files from Microsoft at most one time per day to detect if there is a newer version of the Silverlight client. If there is a newer version, it will automatically download and install the update without any user intervention required.

2) Prompted Updates - Detects when an update is available and prompts if you would like to download and install the update. This uses the same detection location and schedule as the Auto Updates option.

3) No Updates - Does not check for or automatically download updates. This option should be used in most corporate environments if you are using SMS, software update services (SUS), or another enterprise software management solution.

If using the Silverlight updater you will need to give the client computer access to the following domains:

· go.microsoft.com

· silverlight.dlservice.microsoft.com

· rs.update.microsoft.com

· slupdate.dlservice.microsoft.com

· www.microsoft.com

These settings are available in the custom ADM or ADMX file you created as referenced above. The registry setting that the administrative template files contain is:

Key path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Silverlight\

Value Name: UpdateMode

Value Type: DWORD

Valid Values:

Auto Updates 0x00000000

Prompted Updates 0x00000001

No Updates 0x00000002

You can locate this setting in the following policy path for your GPOs:

Category	Description
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Silverlight	Contains settings to enable or disable standard Silverlight configurations.

Disabling Silverlight add-on in Internet Explorer® 7

To isolate browser issues that might be related to the Silverlight add-on, you can selectively disable the add-on in Internet Explorer 7.

To disable a browser add-on

1. Click the Tools menu, click Manage Add-ons, and then click Enable or Disable Add-ons. 2. Change the “Show” Drop-down box to “Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer” 3. Click AgControl Class, click Disable, and then click OK.

Alternatively, you can turn off all add-ons temporarily in Internet Explorer 7 by starting in No add-ons mode.

To start Internet Explorer 7 in No add-ons mode

1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Accessories. 2. Click System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).

Note

You can also start Internet Explorer without add-ons by right-clicking the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop and then clicking Start Without Add-ons. Or start Internet Explorer with no add-ons or toolbars by running the command iexplore.exe -extoff.

System Requirements for Windows Sliverlight

The system requirements for Microsoft Silverlight and associated technologies are listed below.

Windows

§ Operating System: Windows 7,Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2

§ Intel® Pentium® III 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent)

§ 128MB of RAM

Mac OS

§ Operating System: Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11+ (Intel-based) or above

§ Intel Core™ Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor

§ 128MB of RAM

Linux

Moonlight is an open source implementation of Silverlight, primarily for Linux and other Unix/X11 based operating systems. In September of 2007, Microsoft and Novell announced a technical collaboration that includes access to Microsoft's test suites for Silverlight and the distribution of a Media Pack for Linux users that will contain licensed media codecs for video and audio.

Up-to-date packages ready to test are available from:

http://www.go-mono.com/moonlight

Our supported architectures and operating systems list the platforms that we currently test the binary packages of Moonlight on.

Once you install Moonlight from the above URL to play video or audio, you will be prompted by Moonlight to install the Microsoft Media Pack for Moonlight available from Microsoft.

Alternatively, you can build Moonlight from source code and link against ffmpeg codecs on your own.

Features Windows Silverlight 5.0

Improved media support and rich UI capabilities

· Hardware Decode and presentation of H.264 improve performance for lower-power devices to render high-definition video using GPU support.

· TrickPlay allows video to be played at different speeds and supports fast-forward and rewind. At up to twice the speed, audio pitch correction allows users to watch videos while preserving a normal audio pitch.

· Improved power awareness prevents the screen saver from being shown while watching video and allows the computer to sleep when video is not active.

· Remote-control support allows users to control media playback.

· Digital rights management advancements allow seamless switching between DRM media sources.

Silverlight 5 performance improvements

· Reduced network latency by using a background thread for networking.

· XAML parser improvements that speed up startup and runtime performance.

· Support for 64-bit operating systems.

· Reduced network latency by using a background thread for networking.

Graphics improvements

· Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) accelerated 3-D application programming interface (API) provides rich graphics on the Web for building advanced data visualizations and rich user experience (UI).

· Immediate mode graphics API allows direct rendering to the GPU.

· Hardware acceleration is enabled in windowless mode with Internet Explorer 9.

Improved Data binding support and Better support for MVVM:

One of the greatest strength of Silverlight is its data binding. Microsoft is going to enhanced data binding by providing more ability to debug it. Developer will able to debug the binding expression and other stuff in Siverlight 5.0. Its also going to provide Ancestor Relative source binding which will allow property to bind with container control. MVVM pattern support will also be enhanced.

Performance and Speed Enhancement:

Now silverlight 5.0 will have support for 64bit browser support. So now you can use that silverlight application on 64 bit platform also. There is no need to take extra care for it.It will also have faster startup time and greater support for hardware acceleration. It will also provide end to end support for hard acceleration features of IE 9.

More support for Out Of Browser Application:

With Siverlight 4.0 Microsoft has announced new features called out of browser application and it has amazed lots of developer because now possibilities are unlimited with it. Now in silverlight 5.0 Out Of Browser application will have ability to Create Manage child windows just like windows forms or WPF Application. So you can fill power of desktop application with your out of browser application.

Testing Support with Visual Studio 2010:

Microsoft is going to add automated UI Testing support with Visual Studio 2010 with silverlight 5.0. So now we can test UI of Silverlight much faster.

Better Support for RIA Services:

RIA Services allows us to create N-tier application with silverlight via creating proxy classes on client and server both side. Now it will more features like complex type support, Custom type support for MVVM(Model View View Model) pattern.

WCF Enhancements:

There are lots of enhancement with WCF but key enhancement will WSTrust support.

Text and Printing Support:

Silverlight 5.0 will support vector base graphics. It will also support multicolumn text flow and linked text containers. It will full open type support, Postscript vector enhancement.

Improved Power Enhancement:

This will prevent screensaver from activating while you are watching videos on silverlight. Silverlight 5.0 is going add that smartness so it can determine while you are going to watch video and while you are not going watch videos.

Better support for graphics:

Silverlight 5.0 will provide in-depth support for 3D API. Now 3D rendering support is more enhancement in silverlight and 3D graphics can be rendered easily.

Features of Silverlight 4.0

Silverlight 4 delivers a full suite of powerful features to application developers, bringing innovative platform capabilities to browser-based experiences. Silverlight provides an ideal platform for developing and deploying modern business applications for both internal and end-user applications on both sides of the firewall

Enabling business application development. Silverlight 4 affirms its position as the natural choice for building business applications on the Web:

What’s new for application developers

· Comprehensive printing support now enables the creation of a virtual print view, enabling applications to deliver print-friendly documents.

· A full set of controls with more than 60 customizable, skinnable components makes it easy to build forms that can be sorted, resized and validated. New controls include RichTextArea with hyperlinks, images and editing.

· Localization enhancements with bidirectional text, right-to-left support and complex scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew and Thai and 30 new languages.

· The Microsoft .NET Framework Common Language Runtime (CLR) now enables the same compiled code to be run both on the server and the client, reducing development time and testing resources.

· Enhanced databinding support reduces the amount of code needed to work with customized data for display.

· Managed Extensibility Framework supports building completely modular applications, allowing for fast startup and download, efficient development and testing, as well as agile customization and servicing.

· Windows Communication Foundation RIA Services introduces enterprise class networking and data access, allowing applications to work with any source of data and any server.

· Extensive tooling support for Silverlight, new in Visual Studio 2010:

· Fully editable design surface for drawing out controls and layouts

· Rich property grid and new editors for values

· Drag and drop support for databinding and automatically creating bound controls such as listbox and datagrid

· New datasources window and picker

· Easy-to-pick styles and resources to make a good-looking application based on designer resources built in Expression Blend

· Built-in project support for Silverlight applications

· Editor with full IntelliSense for XAML and C# and Visual Basic languages

Empowering richer experiences. Silverlight 4 introduces additional capabilities that enable developers to create richer, more appealing, high-performance interactive and innovative media experiences:

· Enhanced animation capabilities allow for more dynamic, interactive presentation of data in lists.

· Webcam and microphone support allow sharing of video and audio in applications such as chat and customer service.

· Audio and video local recording capabilities capture RAW video without requiring server interaction, allowing new scenarios such as capturing voice or video to send in e-mail, or allowing the recording to be edited locally before saving.

· Copy/paste and drag-and-drop make it easy to bring photos, text and other data into your application.

· New features such as right-click and mouse wheel scrolling enable developers to add conventional desktop interaction models.

· Silverlight 4 runs across all platforms and major browsers.

· Silverlight 4 applications start quicker and run 200 percent faster than the equivalent Silverlight 3 applications with performance optimizations.

· Multitouch support enables a range of gestures and touch interactions to be integrated into user experiences.

· Multicast networking enables enterprises to lower the cost of streaming broadcast events such as company meetings and training, with seamless interoperability with existing Windows Media Services streaming infrastructure.

· Content protection now available for H.264 media through Silverlight DRM powered by PlayReady.

· Output protection for audio/video streams allowing content owners or distributors to ensure protected content is only viewed through a secure video connection.

· Official support of the Google Chrome browser

· Hardware acceleration for Deep Zoom

· XAP signing and verification to ensure application integrity

Moving beyond the browser. Silverlight 4 extends out-of-browser capabilities pioneered in Silverlight 3 that enable a Web presence to establish closer, more persistent relationships with customers without any additional runtime download or the need to write applications in a different way.

For sandboxed applications

· Developers can place HTML within their application, enabling much tighter integration with content from Web servers such as e-mail, help and reports.

· Silverlight 4 provides support for desktop pop-up notification windows to easily provide real-time information and feedback to users using a common user interface metaphor.

· Offline DRM extends the existing Silverlight DRM powered by PlayReady technology to work in a disconnected state, enabling users to view content and engage with a Silverlight application where and when they want. Protected content can be delivered with an embedded license so that users can go offline immediately and start enjoying their content.

· Silverlight 4 offers full control over window settings such as start position and size to ensure applications have maximum usability and flexibility.

For trusted applications

· Users can read and write files to their My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and My Videos folder (or equivalent for non-Windows platforms), enabling applications to make local copies of reports and media files.

· COM automation enables access to devices and other system capabilities such as a Universal Serial Bus security card reader.

· Users can access other desktop programs such as Microsoft Office Excel to create a report.

· Group policy objects allow organizations to manage which applications are trusted.

· Comprehensive keyboard support in full-screen out-of-browser mode enhances kiosk and media applications.

· Enhancements to networking allow cross-domain access without a security policy file.

Windows SliverLight Intro

Microsoft Silverlight is a free web-browser plug-in that enables interactive media experiences, rich business applications and immersive mobile apps.

Windows? Check. Mac? Check. Linux? Check. Silverlight works on all major OS's plus all major browsers, including Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and yes, Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Silverlight is a powerful tool for creating and delivering rich Internet applications and media experiences on the Web. Silverlight 5 builds on the foundation of Silverlight 4 for building business applications and premium media experiences. Silverlight 5 introduces more than 40 new features, including dramatic video quality and performance improvements as well as features that improve developer productivity. Silverlight 5 will be available in 2011.

Silverlight is being pushed side-by-side with Microsoft's Live services for developers. Microsoft is opening up APIs (application program interfaces) for its search engine, for Virtual Earth, for its instant messaging service, and for other services, under generous, but not unlimited, licensing terms. These services will allow the creation of interesting online applications that take advantage of existing Microsoft networks and resources. For example, Match.com today demoed a new version of its service that can connect directly to other Match.com subscribers who are MSN Messenger users. Mash-ups are nothing new, of course, but it is important that Microsoft is giving developers access to its computing resources as well as its user base.

Silverlight supports the display of high-definition video files, and importantly, Microsoft will do the heavy lifting of sending them over the Net. Streaming large media files is expensive, but Microsoft will (optionally) host Silverlight media files and applications. This will enable smaller developers to deliver large and high-definition files quickly and reliably, without paying content distribution network fees. Microsoft is promising reliable 700kbps throughput for media files, and free distribution of all content on its network for one year. After that, distribution will continue to be free up to 1 million streamed minutes a month. Fees after that have not been set.