Microsoft released the successor of Silverlight 2 for Windows and Mac OS X to web one day ahead of the official launch, set for July 10, 2009. Users are already able to download Silverlight 3 RTW, full build string 3.0.40624.0, and take web-based rich application experiences to the next level. In this regard, Silverlight 3 brings a number of enhancements to the table compared to its precursor. The latest iteration of Microsoft's alternative to Adobe Flash delivers support for higher-quality video and audio, improves data support, boosts performance, and even manages to break the barriers associated with the browser plugins and to anchor itself on the desktop via out of browser capabilities.

According to Microsoft, Silverlight 3 has been designed to play nice with Internet Explorer 8, IE7, IE6, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Safari 3 and Safari 4. Users of Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 2000 SP4 + KB 891861, Windows Server 2003 (excluding IA-64), and Mac OS 10.4.8+ (Intel-based) can all download and install Silverlight 3. In the Compatible Operating Systems and Browsers section, Microsoft claims that Silverlight 3 will work with IE7 on Windows 7, which is wrong, seeing as how Windows 7 comes with IE8 by default and there's no way of getting IE7 installed on Windows Vista's successor.

Silverlight 3 offers “support for native H.264/Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) Audio, live and on-demand IIS7 Smooth Streaming, full HD (720p+) playback, and an extensible decoder pipeline, Silverlight 3 brings rich, full-screen, stutter-free media experiences to the desktop,” the Redmond company revealed. “Silverlight 3 contains new 3D graphics, animation features, hardware accelerated effects and text improvements that enable designers and developers to create next generation Web visuals.”

In addition, web developers working with Silverlight 3 will be able to take advantage of over 60 new controls, and the possibility to add deep links and perform SEO on RIAs. Developers will also find that the new features introduced with Silverlight 3 will permit them to put together lightweight applications that can run on the desktop, sandboxed and safe. 

Silverlight 3 RTW (3.0.40624.0) is available for download here.