Silverlight 4 Release Now Available!

Silverlight is a powerful development platform for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web, desktop, and mobile applications when online or offline. Silverlight is a free plug-in, powered by the .NET framework and compatible with multiple browsers, devices and operating systems, bringing a new level of interactivity wherever the Web works. For information on the new features in Silverlight, and how it compares to previous versions, be sure to visit the overview and feature matrix page. For additional information, including details on the features, visit the Silverlight 4 Information Page.

Silverlight and XNA are the two programming models for Windows Phone 7 devices. Once you have the bits, visit our section on developing for Windows Phone 7 with Silverlight. Silverlight is also available for Nokia Symbian mobile phones.

Get Started with Silverlight with One Install

If you already have Visual Studio 2010 installed, get everything you need for Silverlight 4 RTW by downloading the Silverlight 4 Tools RC2 for Visual Studio.

Start Learning Silverlight

1. Watch the Getting Started Video

   Tim Heuer introduces the concepts and tools needed to get started with Silverlight development from a developers perspective. (13:02)

2. Read Tim Heuer's 8-part blog series on getting started

   Tim's blog posts will walk you through the fundamentals of Silverlight and will help you build a sample application along the way. Each step includes source code as well as C# and Visual Basic code for the completed application.

3. Watch How Do I Videos

   Over two dozen new Silverlight 4 videos including Jesse Liberty's new Silverlight 4 From Scratch series.

4. Read Jesse Liberty's Tutorials

   Learn more about Silverlight with Jesse's tutorial series.

5. Learn to use Expression Blend

   Read Adam Kinney's tutorials in “Through the Eyes of Expression Blend" to understand the key features of Expression Blend, then watch Jesse Liberty's 3-part video series on the same subject.

Other Useful Tools

Once you're up and running with Silverlight, you'll find these optional tools to be a terrific addition.

1. Developer Runtimes for Windows and OSX

   If you’re debugging or testing on machines without the tools installed, you’ll want to use the windows developer runtime or the Mac OSX developer runtime for Silverlight 4. Developers with the tools installed already have these releases.

2. Microsoft Expression Blend 4 RC

   Expression Blend allows designers to graphically create UI's for Silverlight applications.

3. Silverlight Toolkit

   This Toolkit is a Microsoft project containing Silverlight controls, components and utilities that can be downloaded and used in your Silverlight applications. It includes full source code, samples and tests.