Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, for multimedia display, has been drawing quite a crowd of onlookers at the TechEd 2007 conference in Orlando, Fla. this week, said a software development executive manning the Silverlight demonstration stand.[ Special Report: TechEd 2007 ]“During the breaks, we get a big crowd here. Everyone wants to know what it is,” said Dave Noderer, president and CEO of Computer Ways. Noderer showed the software to whoever dropped by. “Many people haven’t even heard of it until the keynote [presentation],” he said. Noderer cited Silverlight’s capabilities such as its use of the Microsoft Common Language Runtime. He expressed his preference for Silverlight over Adobe’s rival Flash technology. Silverlight still is in a beta release at this point. “I always shy away from Flash. I just don’t want to use anything like that,” Noderer said. While Flash requires learning another development environment, working with Silverlight is similar to using Microsoft’s Visual Studio platform, said Noderer. “In a few lines of code you can play a video on any platform, basically,” Noderer said. It is easier to add graphics and animation to an application than it has been before, he said. Noderer has been walking show attendees through a demonstration featuring HTML and JavaScript. Silverlight is driven by XAML, he added. Can Silverlight compete with the more established Flash technology? Noderer and a show attendee both said yes. “Given enough time, sure,” Noderer said. “I think it has a 500-pound gorilla behind it, so yes,” said attendee Steve Walker, an engineer with Fast Search and Transfer, in referring to Microsoft’s backing of Silverlight. He had not seen the show floor presentration but was impressed with what he has seen. “The demos look great,” Walker said, citing the video elements of Silverlight. Software Development