Microsoft's Silverlight heats up fight for online video players
— -- If you watch video online — on YouTube, MySpace, CNN, Hulu or elsewhere — you're viewing in Adobe's Flash, a software plug-in that's on 98% of computers.
"There's no question this is the biggest threat to Adobe in years," says Michael Olson, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. "But the market for online video is massive. There's room for both Silverlight and Flash."
Online viewers will undoubtedly be the winners of this video battle, as the goal of both companies is to dramatically improve video and audio quality.
"Our ultimate goal is to get Flash to look as good as broadcast TV," says Jennifer Taylor, a director at Adobe Systems, which introduced a new version of Flash in October. "That's what people have come to expect of the Web, and that's what we're aiming for."
Many people first encountered Silverlight in August, when Microsoft teamed with the Olympics to present international sporting events via the technology. So many people downloaded the Silverlight plug-in needed to watch the events, that "one in four people now have Silverlight on their computer," says Brad Becker, a Microsoft Silverlight director.
Microsoft has competed with Adobe products before, with short-lived alternatives to Adobe Acrobat PDF file creator and Photoshop photo-editing software. With Silverlight, Microsoft may have staying power.
"It's a sign we're doing something right, if you have a company like Microsoft chasing your tail," says Taylor.
Since Silverlight was first announced in 2007, online video usage of Flash has risen from 66% to 80%, she notes.
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