There was hype when it was introduced and some big corporates moved to use it but with the recent announcement that almost all major browsers were dropping plugin support for java applets and flash in favor for HTML5 controls,silverlight faces the same fate as Java Applets and flash. Already many sites such as youtube are already moving from flash and java applets are almost a thing of the past. So what now for silverlight. Silverlight and flash are good for DRM content which HTML5 lacks. Also, HTML5 cannot be able to produce business applications the way silvelight does because it relies on HTML and javascript. Some sites that use silvelight such as netflix and other DRM content providers have indicated that they may be required to come up with custom applications the moment browsers no longer support plugins for silverlight and flash. This may mean creating applications that require users to download and install and access their servcises only through such applications. However, microsoft is going to continue supporting silverlight browser plugin but further development of the same will be stopped.
Not really bad news for Silverlight developers because Silverlight itself is able to run out of the browser without requiring any custom application. You just have to enable that option during development. Once you visit a site, the Silverlight application will run just like a windows application. With the technology being more for business applications than just playing video, I doubt whether any serious business would discard a whole application just because it runs out of the browser. Also, many Silverlight applications can run on the local area network from a shared folder, where users can access them whether as a custom application or an out of browser application. Java applets and Flash may die but Silverlight will survive.
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