Telerik, one of the most active component vendors in the last years, have already released a couple of Silverlight components. Read on what they share with us about the components we can expect, problems they faced and more.
1. How does the component development for Silverlight 1.1 go?
It is going very well. We are working on several key UI controls now and a preview will be available within a couple of months.
2. What difficulties are you facing?
Silverlight 1.1 is still in alpha and a lot of things are still shaky. Some base functionality is still missing and we are facing some performance issues.
3. What do you think about the Silverlight as a technology? Is it (or will it be) really a Flash-killer as it has been written in many blogs?
We are very enthusiastic about Silverlight and believe it will bring in a lot of interactivity and richness previously unavailable in websites. Adding the full power of CLR and .NET will definitely help developers produce really amazing applications.
4. Which is the coolest thing about it?
Having .NET on the client is really cool. This is a great advantage over Flash.
5. What do you miss in Silverlight?
All the handy little things you have in WPF. We are looking forward to seeing the team at Microsoft include more WPF additions into Silverlight.
6. Are you adopting existing code or did you start from a scratch?
Pretty much everything is from scratch. We have used some API and UX know-how from previous development but the code is written from ground up.
7. How is the overall performance?
We are already facing some performance issues but we hope that there will be some improvements in this direction in the next Silverlight 1.1 bits.
8. How will the Silverlight be used – as a small part of a site showing multimedia content only or a whole sites based on it? There are plenty of sites completely written in Flash.
Both options are promising. As of now, we mostly see portions of a website built with Silverlight and showing rich media content but we expect to see more and more applications based entirely on Silverlight once there is a stable SL 1.1 beta out in the community.
9. Can we expect something before the official release of Silverlight 1.1 and if so will it be reliable and ready to use?
It has always been a Telerik policy to put out early versions of our products so that we get community feedback early in the product lifecycle. Yes, you can expect previews and betas from us even before the official release of SL 1.1.
10. Do you plan to release free control packs and/or with included source code before the official release of Silverlight 1.1?
We still have not finalized the licensing options for the Silverlight product line. Once we are ready with details we will announce them on our website.
11. What components can we expect from you?
Our goal is to provide developers with a comprehensive pack of UI controls which will facilitate development of both RIA (Rich Internet Applications) and LOB (Line of Business) applications
12. How will the components be distributed – prices, packs?
As I said before, we are still discussing the licensing options.
13. You already release some Silverlight controls (beta) like RadMediaPLayer, Button, Cube, etc. Are they ready to be used in production or they just serving for a showcase?
Yes, they are ready to be used in production and are available for free from our website.
14. Do you plan to continue working on these controls – adding new features, fixing bugs, etc.?
Silverlight 1.0 controls will have minor updates (minor improvements, bugfixes, support)– all new development will be based on Silverlight 1.1.
15. What are your expectations for the market of Silverlight components? Do you expect new players?
It will definitely be a dynamic market and we already see quite a lot of vendors in there (both “usual suspects” and new players). We are looking forward to all new developments in the market in the coming months.
16. Is there anything you want to add?
As always, we will do our best to “deliver more than expected” and to bring in substantial value for Silverlight developers.
Other component vendors plans: