Microsoft Silverlight 2 Beta 2 arrives

Microsoft has now released Silverlight 2 Beta 2 for WindowsMac Intel (6.65MB). The Silverlight homepage does not yet have the new download links, but as things change, this post will be updated. Just like previous Silverlight betas, the installation is very quick and the browser may have to be restarted for the changes to take effect. Silverlight 2 Beta 2 is available for (browser versions in beta are not officially supported):

• Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista and XP SP2
• Internet Explorer 6 on XP SP2 and Windows 2000
• Firefox 2 on Windows Vista and XP SP2
• Firefox 1.5 on Vista and XP SP2
• Safari on Mac OS 10.4.8+ (Intel-based)

There are supposed to be numerous changes and new features in this version; here’s a quick rundown of the major ones:

• TabControl has been added to the SDK. Text wrapping and scrollbars for the TextBox and Autosize, Reorder, Sort and so on have been added for the DataGrid.
• Many controls have moved from the SDK (the application) to the runtime and others have been brought in line with their Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) counterparts. Developers targeting both Silverlight and WPF for their applications should enjoy these changes.
• Templating for controls has been simplified with the introduction of Visual State Manager.
• Cross Domain is further improved over beta 1, the WebClient has been updated to allow uploads, and duplex communications (’push’ from server to SL) have been added.
• Deep Zoom has received a major update: the file format is now XML instead of a binary format, so the ability to generate your own Deep Zoom images and collections server side will become easier. There’s also some nice new event models around zoom/pan state.

Developers will want to check out the SDK documentation which was uploaded yesterday. For a more detailed list of changes, check out the full changelog posted by Silverlight Product Manager David Pugmire. The final version of Silverlight 2 is still targeted for a “late summer” release.

Update

Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President of the Microsoft Developer Division, has finally posted on his blog about Silverlight 2 Beta 2. Also, the following applications have been updated to support Silverlight 2 Beta 2 and have been posted on the Microsoft Download Center:

• Deep Zoom Composer (4.4MB)
• Microsoft Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview (32.4MB)
• Microsoft Silverlight 2 Software Development Kit (56.1MB)
• Microsoft Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008 (84.3 MB, read what’s new)