I wrote a post called Adobe Flex beats Silverlight every time in September of 2007. My key point was that Flex runs on Flash which is installed on over 99% of all PCs and laptops in the world. On top of that, Flex has released Air which allows you to deploy your application on the desktop independent of the operating system. This enables you to interact with data both online and offline and can sync up when the user connects back online. Salesforce.com is all over this already.
Today I read O'Reilly's post called What's Keeping Adobe Up at Night? Probably not Silverlight. Looking at the chart below you can see that Silverlight has gained no market share on Flex. I do not believe that this has much to do with the features of Silverlight, but more with the fact that the Silverlight plugin is on very few PCs and laptops across the world and is not getting adopted at a rapid pace.
Both Silverlight and Flex allow you to build breathtaking RIAs (Rich Internet Applications). Major vendors are leveraging Flex because of their requirements to provide a zero footprint application that runs on any browser and any operating system. Although Flash is not exactly zero footprint, the fact that it is on almost every single PC and laptop makes it acceptable for corporations to use. Look how Microstrategy, a leader in business intelligence, is leveraging Flash. If you click through these demos you will see a very rich user experience that can be fully integrated into your portal or sent as an email. SAP, Google, HP, and many other large companies are also leveraging Flex to create richer user experiences with their products. You can see many more examples of Flex in action here.
Check out Nokia, Wii, and Minicooper for some outstanding eCommerce sites that use Flex. And here's one for the guys (sorry ladies, it's about the technology, really).
RIA is changing the way consumers use the Internet. eCommerce companies who do not invest in this type of technology will fall far behind. In a few years rich interfaces like these will be expected. Adobe is in a great place to continue to dominate this market place. Microsoft has the money, the name, the power, and the product to succeed in this space, but I don't know how they will overcome Adobe's lock on having 99% of the PC market with Flash installed.
I guess we will just wait and see how this race plays out. In the mean time, I will continue to standardize on Flex in my enterprise.
Here is a presentation on Slideshare: 10 reasons to use Flex
Both Adobe and Microsoft are fighting hard to be the preferred vendor for RIA development. They both are awesome tools that will change the way we use the web in years to come. But when it comes to deployment, there is only one option for me and that is Flex. The main reason, 99% of all PCs and laptops have Flash installed on it.
If you look at this chart you don't even see the Silverlight plugin. That is because it is so new that it will take a while to penetrate the market. But even Microsoft's most popular desktop add-on, Microsoft Windows Media Player, only reaches 83.6% of the desktops.
Silverlight will struggle to get widely adopted just like Winforms did. The problem with Winforms is it requires the .Net framework to be installed on the client PC. According to Microsoft's own website, the .Net framework is at about a 58% penetration rate. Keep in mind that the framework only comes into play on Windows operating systems. I don't know about you, but I won't have any success convincing all of my 500 manufacturer and retailer clients to install the framework on all of their desktops. But my Flash applications will work fine since they all already have Flash installed, regardless of which operating system they run.
Microsoft did learn from the failed approach with Winforms and addresses this issue with the Silverlight plugin. The problem now for Microsoft is how will they get the necessary penetration that customers like me require. Microsoft is also working with the open source community so Silverlight will work on Linux (see Moonlight). This is a great strategy. But I can't wait 2-3 years until Silverlight penetrates over 90% of the laptops and PCs across all operating systems.
Don't get me wrong, I like what I have seen (download plugin at own risk) from Silverlight as far as ease of use and functionality. If you are building applications for users that you have total control of their desktop, then Silverlight is an awesome choice for you. But for those of us who have no control over the client, Adobe Flex beats Silverlight every time.
