LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft bolstered its appeal to Web developers and
designers with a host of new and updated Web technologies announced at
its MIX09 Web development conference.
Experience was the word of the day in the opening keynote from both
Bill Buxton, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, and Scott
Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's .Net Developer
Division, said organizations that create more intuitive, more engaging
experiences on the Web are able to reduce costs and increase sales.
Moreover, Microsoft demonstrated a series of technologies to enable
developers to deliver a rich, interactive presence on the Web. As part
of the company's push to enable a richer Web experience, Microsoft
released Silverlight 3 beta and Expression Blend 3 Preview, and
continued progress in the cloud with updates to the Azure Services
Platform. The company also pointed to strong momentum in platform
adoption and demonstrated a number of solutions from key partners
including Netflix, Bondi Digital Publishing, StackOverflow.com,
KEXP and NBC.
Perkins Miller, senior vice president of digital media at NBC
Sports, came onstage and announced that NBC will be working with
Microsoft to use Silverlight 3 to stream the upcoming 2010 Winter
Olympics.
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