Note: Currently, only version 4 of Silverlight will run in Google Chrome on a Mac OS X; and only version 5 of Silverlight will run in a 64-bit version of Internet Explorer. Microsoft Silverlight 5.0 Compatible Browsers and Operating Systems.
- According to statowl.com, Microsoft Silverlight had a penetration of 64.2% in May 2011. Usage on July 2010 was 53.6%, whereas as of May 2011 market leader Adobe Flash was installed on 95.3% of browsers, and Java was supported on 76.5% of browsers. Support of these plugins is not mutually exclusive; one system can support all three.
- Microsoft Visual C (MSVC) is a compiler for the C, C, and C/CLI programming languages by Microsoft.MSVC is proprietary software; it was originally a standalone product but later became a part of Visual Studio and made available in both trialware and freeware forms.
Microsoft Silverlight will reach the end of support on October 12, 2021. Silverlight development framework is currently only supported on Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11, with support for Internet Explorer 10 ending on January 31, 2020. There is no longer support for Chrome, Firefox, or any browser using the Mac operating system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current level of support Microsoft will provide for Silverlight?
Microsoft will provide technical help for customers using versions of Silverlight 5 only. Paid technical help is available to customers requiring support with issues beyond install and upgrade. Microsoft will continue to ship updates to the Silverlight 5 Developer Runtime for supported browser versions given that their extensibility model supports plug-ins; this includes updates for security vulnerabilities as determined by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).
Silverlight 5 will support the browser versions listed on the system requirements page through October 12, 2021, or though the lifecycle of the underlying browsers, whichever is shorter. The support page will be updated to reflect compatibility with newer browsers and operating system versions.
Windows 7 will reach its end of support date on January 14, 2020. Will Silverlight be supported as part of the Extended Security Update (ESU) program available for Windows 7 customers?
Silverlight’s lifecycle policy is independent from the Windows 7 policy. After January 14, 2020, customers using Silverlight on Windows 7 will no longer be supported and will no longer receive automatic security updates.
What happens on October 12, 2021? Will existing applications stop working?
Microsoft is not planning to take any specific action to terminate Silverlight applications. After this date, however, Silverlight will be in an unsupported state and will not receive any future quality or security updates.
Will companies be legally allowed to continue to run Silverlight assets after October 12, 2021? What happens to the license to use Silverlight after October 12, 2021?
Microsoft Silverlight 64-bit Download
Silverlight’s license is a perpetual license and is not tied to the continuation of support. While support will be ending in October 2021, this date does not affect the license, which continues in effect for as long as the customer is using the software and complies with the terms of the license.
Can companies obtain a custom agreement to extend Microsoft support past 2021?
There are no plans for extending Silverlight support beyond the existing support dates listed here.
What will happen to the microsoft.com/silverlight website after October 12, 2021?
The microsoft.com/silverlight website will still be available. However, the Silverlight installer will no longer be available after the end of support date of October 12, 2021.
What is the recommended technology/development framework for customers who want to migrate applications from Silverlight?
There are various options for migrating applications from Silverlight. We recommend that you evaluate the requirements of the application that you are migrating and determine the technology that best suits the application in question:
What Is Microsoft Silverlight
If your application is non-browser dependent and you’d like to migrate to a Windows Desktop application, we recommend you migrate your application to UWP or WPF on .NET Core.
If your application is web-based, we recommend that you look into Blazor, which allows re-usability of .NET Silverlight code. Blazor lets you build interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript. Blazor apps are composed of reusable web UI components implemented using C#, HTML, and CSS. Both client and server code are written in C#, allowing you to share code and libraries.