Yes, FINALLY. Silverlight 2 is no out and while it didn`t managed to get released a month ago as originally planned. now it is out and there is tons of good stuff in it:

Cross Platform / Cross Browser .NET Development

Silverlight 2 is a cross-platform browser plugin that enables rich media experiences and .NET RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) within the browser.

Silverlight 2 is small in size (4.6MB) and takes only 4-10 seconds to install on a machine that doesn’t already have it.  It does not require the .NET Framework to be installed on a computer to run – the Silverlight setup download includes everything necessary to play video or run applications.

Developers can write Silverlight applications using any .NET language (including VB, C#, JavaScript, IronPython and IronRuby).  Silverlight provides a rich set of features for development including:

• WPF UI Framework: Silverlight 2 includes a rich UI framework that makes building rich Web applications much easier.  In includes a powerful graphics and animation engine, as well as rich support for higher-level UI capabilities like controls, layout management, data-binding, styles, and template skinning.  The WPF UI Framework in Silverlight is a compatible subset of the WPF UI Framework features in the full .NET Framework, and enables developers to re-use skills, controls, code and content to build both rich cross browser web applications, as well as rich desktop Windows applications.

• Rich Controls: Silverlight 2 includes a rich set of built-in controls that developers and designers can use to quickly build applications.  The Silverlight 2 release includes core form controls (TextBox, CheckBox, RadioButton, ComboBox, etc), built-in layout management panels (StackPanel, Grid, Panel, etc), common functionality controls (Slider, ScrollViewer, Calendar, DatePicker, etc), and data manipulation controls (DataGrid, ListBox, etc).  All Silverlight controls support a rich control templating model, which enables developers and designers to collaborate together to build highly polished solutions.

• Rich Networking Support: Silverlight 2 includes rich networking support.  It includes out of the box support for calling REST, WS*/SOAP, POX, RSS, and standard HTTP services.  It supports cross domain network access (enabling Silverlight clients to directly access resources and data from resources on the web).  It also includes built-in sockets networking support.

• Rich Base Class Library: Silverlight 2 includes a rich .NET base class library of functionality (collections, IO, generics, threading, globalization, XML, local storage, etc).  It includes rich APIs that enable HTML DOM/JavaScript integration with .NET code.  It includes LINQ and LINQ to XML library support (enabling easy transformation and querying of data), as well as local data caching and storage support.  The .NET APIs in Silverlight are a compatible subset of the full .NET Framework.

• Rich Media Support: Silverlight 2 includes built-in video codecs for playing high definition video, as well as for streaming it over the web (including both live and on-demand support).  Silverlight includes support for adaptively switching video bitrates on the fly based on network conditions (enabling users to avoid seeing the dreaded "buffering…" message), placing and metering ads within video streams, as well as enabling content protection.

The final Silverlight 2 release delivers a tremendous amount of power and flexibility that enables you to really push the boundaries of what can be done in a browser, and enable great end user experiences.

This are the main bits of the Silverlight 2 (no longer 2.0 but just 2) as explained by Scott Guthrie. huge release for Silverlight and huge release to put the RIA Web forward. a good example of a great Silverlight 2 web app is the new Silverlight based AOL E-mail. among many others.  but don`t worry. i already got several Silverlight 2 Widgets to show you later with lots of other stuff to check out on Silverlight and given that it has reached 200 million installs already (previous to this release). maybe it is time for you check it out if you don`t have done so already.

If you are already using Silverlight and got some Silverlight 1.0 widgets or apps running. don`t worry. this will not break those. only those using beta builds will need to be updated (SL2 B1, SL2 B2 and SL2 RC0)

Silverlight

via Scott Guthrie

Another step into the direction that will bring us more RIA widgets has been taken with the release of Silverlight 2 Beta 2 that comes with 48 eight changes from beta 1. this is the browser plugin you will want to install to enjoy the NBC Olympics coverage, the advanced elections coverage, etc, etc. but more important is that this will be the way to preview what it is to come in RIA web and RIA web Widgets before the final release at the end of the summer.

Direct Download – Silverlight 2 Beta 2

How much does it Silverlight could change things? . well to that question i want to direct you to a video demo session of possible DeepZoom  scenarios with Silverlight done by the multi talented Jose Fajardo. see the video and just think of what could be

possible one the final release is out.

DG.TV Jose Fajardo on DeepZoom Awesomeness

In the case you are interested in doing something with Silverlight. there is also the full changelog of what is new in SL 2 B2. all 48 changes.

Silverlight 2 beta 2 Full Changelog

via Silverlight.net