What's the future for XAML and Silverlight

XAML appears to have a future despite what the 2011 announcements suggested.

The Windows 8 presentation demonstrates the increased importance placed on HTML 5 and JavaScript. In addition, all browsers support the SVG format, which offers capabilities equivalent to XAML for an online application.

A road lit at night with the word XAML at the end

Microsoft seems to want to increasingly rely on new web standards to interface new applications, so programmers are wondering about the benefits of developing in XAML, Silverlight, or XNA.

Update: In December 2012, Microsoft closed silverlight.net. Content links are not redirected.

Refresh. In 2021, OpenSilver appeared. This is a Silverlight reimplantation based entirely on WebAssembly and runs on any browser without dependencies on any system. The project is supported by Microsoft.

Developer concerns

Developers who have invested in the Silverlight platform are concerned, and two threads on dedicated forums reflect their concerns about future support for Silverlight and .NET.

However, it is important to remember that .NET is an alternative to Java; this technology is not dying out, and it is unlikely that Microsoft will abandon this area. But Silverlight was Microsoft's answer to Flash, and the format tends to fade on mobile in favor of HTML 5, so why persist with Silverlight?

Despite the new share allocated to standard web formats, we have reason to believe that XAML will remain the underlying technology, at least on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, which together are destined to make up the largest share of the desktop market in the broadest sense.

It looks like Windows 8 will support multiple types of apps alongside traditional on-premises apps. Applications running in the JavaScript sandbox, but also applications like those for mobile devices connected to the system and peripherals.

XAML has a future on smartphones

Currently, Silverlight and XAML platforms offer features not available for HTML 5 and SVG (this may change).

Apple has a dedicated framework for iOS applications, and Google provides a virtual machine and the Apache's Harmony framework in Java for native Android applications.

Microsoft has .NET, an alternative to Java (or Dalvik), and XAML for defining user interfaces.
On the desktop, the benefits of Silverlight are less obvious, unless you want to create applications that work on all types of devices, smartphones, tablets, PCs, which actually seems very interesting.

New

development platform

It has been discussed for some time without further details. We only knew that it was intended for Windows 8.

Jupiter is simply a codename for a development platform consisting of an interface defined in XAML and associated with a local system.
It will allow for a smoother, more dynamic display to create what Microsoft calls immersive apps, in other words, apps that hide the user interface and remove barriers between the real and the virtual.
These new apps, which will be offered in the Microsoft App Store, will work on all types of devices, from mobile to desktop.

So while Microsoft seems to be moving to HTML 5, it's only for one type of app: online apps - which can run offline - or apps that run in a sandbox, like games running in Canvas. Metro interface applications.

And Windows 8 will continue to run the third type of application: traditional software, compatibility with which will be preserved.

Microsoft's refusal to implement WebGLThe availability of 3D rendering in the browser that Silverlight 5 offers reinforces the idea that the latter will remain with the company's support. Unless Jupiter, the new platform for XAML, offers this functionality.

In

Modern UI immersive apps use XAML

Things become clearer after information provided by Microsoft about Modern UI (formerly Metro), a new immersive interface for Windows 8.

As for XAML, it will be one of the basics of designing Metro applications that will also use JavaScript. So Silverlight designers have nothing to fear; even if they switch to Metro, most of what they learned will remain useful.
Metro will be the platform of choice for future applications, desktop or tablet.