Silverlight is Microsoft's answer to Adobe's industry-leading Flash format. Although Silverlight is only loaded on a fraction of the computers that have Flash, Yappo hopes that offering content in the new format will attract Mac users.
According to Yappo representatives, Microsoft's DRM requirements had prevented users on Intel-based Macs from viewing Yappo content. Silverlight should remedy that.
Yappo.com Product Manager Liam Colins said that he and his colleagues wanted to give users more ways to enjoy Yappo content.
“The decision to include Silverlight reflects our desire to give our users more choices in how they watch movies,” Colins said. “We don’t anticipate Silverlight becoming our most prominent media type, but more options can’t hurt.”
But even though Colins doesn't see Silverlight overtaking Flash, Microsoft's Brian Goldfarb and his staff are wheeling and dealing, searching for ways to get Silverlight onto more than the 2 percent of computers that now run it.
Goldfarb, who leads the Silverlight development team, experimented with including Silverlight with its latest version of Office for Mac suite, even though Office doesn't use the application, not even as a plugin.
Microsoft also cut a deal with NBC to exclusive offer all of its online coverage of the 2008 Olympics in Silverlight.
For more information on Silverlight, visit Microsoft.com or the official development portal for Silverlight.