Silverlight

[VectraMan]

Here's a video of a nice demo using pure HTML5, WebGL (the soon-to-be-finalised 3D Canvas API) and JavaScript, running in Chrome on eight machines synchronising via a node.js server (that's a hyper-efficient asynchronous event-driven non-blocking HTTP server implementation running "clunky old JavaScript" on Google's V8 engine).

Is that really about to be released, or is the spec about to be agreed on and it'll be another 5 years before there's enough browser support to use it?

That's a good example of what I was saying. Javascript can do 3D and everybody goes "OOOOOH!", but that level of 3D was simple 10 years ago. So why are we impressed?

Nick's obviously very impressed by a webserver written in Javascript, but as good as v8 is, it's still slower and more CPU intensive than just doing the same thing in C++.

[kandr]

Not according to people I know who actually use SL, and the people who have used a WP7 phone. You have to use a special dev-platform for Android phones and a special dev-platform for iOS, and Blackberry, and Nokia... so what's the difference needing something specific for WM7 too.

Lets wait to see the sales figures, I think Atw is right, the Win 7 Phone will bomb, MS will somehow spin it that it didn't, maybe even keeping it going for a few years absorbing the losses, then a new iphone or android phone will come out that will bury it. Silvertulipe will obviously disappear as well. I could be wrong though , but I haven't seen any reports of queues for the Windows 7 phone, only a few reviews from MS fanboys saying their friends like it.

[kandr]

Is that really about to be released, or is the spec about to be agreed on and it'll be another 5 years before there's enough browser support to use it?

That's a good example of what I was saying. Javascript can do 3D and everybody goes "OOOOOH!", but that level of 3D was simple 10 years ago. So why are we impressed?

Nick's obviously very impressed by a webserver written in Javascript, but as good as v8 is, it's still slower and more CPU intensive than just doing the same thing in C++.

Good points, I think though flash has a bad image now, with its security issues, bugs and hogging of CPU. These might be unjustified, the flash plugin I use for my 64 bit linux firefox machine runs really well. However I think standardizing video into HTML (as it has become a integral element of the web) is a good idea and the browser can then hand of the task to play the video to a GPU accelerated player, saving the CPU.

[xoggoth]

Coincidentally, I have been trying to do a panning landscape in jscript. Its about as minimal code as one can do, have a number of joined images, increment left of the two in view every x ms and yet it's noticeably jerky. Nice to know if there any better ways with current technology apart from Flash.

[kandr]

Coincidentally, I have been trying to do a panning landscape in jscript. Its about as minimal code as one can do, have a number of joined images, increment left of the two in view every x ms and yet it's noticeably jerky. Nice to know if there any better ways with current technology apart from Flash.

How do Google do it with maps, theres is smooth when scrolling along the map, im sure its just trick with Javascript.

[VectraMan]

Good points, I think though flash has a bad image now, with its security issues, bugs and hogging of CPU. These might be unjustified, the flash plugin I use for my 64 bit linux firefox machine runs really well. However I think standardizing video into HTML (as it has become a integral element of the web) is a good idea and the browser can then hand of the task to play the video to a GPU accelerated player, saving the CPU.

Why do you think that only the browser can do hardware acceleration? Flash has hardware accelerated full screen video for years now. The "CPU hogging" accusation is only because Apple didn't allow Adobe access to the hardware acceleration, and so had to be done with software on a Mac, something I believe they've now changed. It's never been a CPU hog on Windows.

I don't know much about Windows Phone 7, but a lot of people thought MS would have no chance in the games console market too.

[kandr]

Why do you think that only the browser can do hardware acceleration? Flash has hardware accelerated full screen video for years now. The "CPU hogging" accusation is only because Apple didn't allow Adobe access to the hardware acceleration, and so had to be done with software on a Mac, something I believe they've now changed. It's never been a CPU hog on Windows.

I don't know much about Windows Phone 7, but a lot of people thought MS would have no chance in the games console market too.

NO I know that Flash can do hw accell, I agree, Flash runs great on most things, its a pain that Apple have blocked it. What I dont want to see is having to download a Flash plugin a quicktime plugin a reallayer plugin and a SL plugin, why not have one standard for web video, that is fast and GPU accelerated. That could have been flash hadn't apple blocked it.

[xoggoth]

How do Google do it with maps

You're right. From source Streetview does appear to just jscript. Clever stuff.

[d000hg]

Lets wait to see the sales figures, I think Atw is right, the Win 7 Phone will bomb, MS will somehow spin it that it didn't, maybe even keeping it going for a few years absorbing the losses, then a new iphone or android phone will come out that will bury it. Silvertulipe will obviously disappear as well. I could be wrong though , but I haven't seen any reports of queues for the Windows 7 phone, only a few reviews from MS fanboys saying their friends like it.

First Windows Phone 7 handsets sell out ? The Register Oh look. You're wrong.

Also, define "bomb". They aren't expecting to overtake iPhone, only gain market share for the long-term.

[d000hg]

Coincidentally, I have been trying to do a panning landscape in jscript. Its about as minimal code as one can do, have a number of joined images, increment left of the two in view every x ms and yet it's noticeably jerky. Nice to know if there any better ways with current technology apart from Flash.

What browser are you running it in?
How are you moving the images?
Are you sure your timer is not jerky?
It's definitely possible in pure JS. I suggest asking on stackoverflow.