Expand Silverlight Concept for Cloud Computing?

Given that Silverlight runs on PCs, Macs, and Linux, it isn't a stretch to expand the concept into Cloud computing. Rather than running a stripped-down .NET plug-in within a browser,  what about installing a full-blown, cross-platform runtime?

You'd execute Silverlight Cloud (my term) on your computer (Mac, PC, Linux) and download the cloud-based .xap file from a URI much as you do now with Silverlight 2. Just as the embedded DLLs call into Web services in the browser-based Silverlight, the "big brother" version would exchange its data in the cloud and keep some in the protected storage.

This is kinda like Click Once except that everything runs inside the sandboxed, virtual machine on the local computer. Hmmm. Isn't this starting to sound like, er Java from the old days?

4 Comments

  • @Chad: Thanks for the link. I expect the PDC will produce an API announcement for Mesh. It isn't a stretch to add its DLL to a Silverlight project and store all sorts of data up in the cloud. As you saw, some people are already running Silverlight outside the browser.

  • emm... So is adobe air like java as well?

  • Hi Ken,

    I imagine that the idea is to have Silverlight applications run in the cloud (mesh) to get an access to your application anytime anywhere. That's the next step for Silverlight and Live Mesh. Then I am asking me if one announcement at the PDC will be the release of a first beta of Silverlight 2 for mobile?

    Regards
    Laurent Kempé

  • so what you are saying is that you want wpf to run cross platform. it already can run in the browser using clickonce.

    Silverlight in the cloud... Ppfh.

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