Silverlight 4 Beta was announced at the PDC 09 event in Los Angeles. The new version is filled with many exciting new features, including Webcam / Microphone Support, Printing API, RichTextArea control, and much more.
For more information on getting started with Silverlight 4, check out the following links:
Get Started with Silverlight 4
Tim Heuer’s Article about Silverlight 4 Features
Silverlight 4 Training Course
I decided to upgrade couple of my demos to support the new features. The current version of Silverlight 4 Beta is intended for developer use only. This means that you will need the Developer runtime to view Silverlight 4 Beta applications. There is no “Go Live” support and not intended for public viewing. The end user runtime will be available next year.
Silverlight 4 Shader Sandox
Demo: http://www.silverlighttoys.com/Samples/SL4/ShaderSandbox/
This demo allows users to drag images from their local machines to the application, which renders them out in a wrapped gallery fashion. The left pane shows the various shader options to play with. The current version supports changing all of the images to the selected pixel shader. The images can be selected to view a scaled size render in a child window. The window also gives options to save and print the rendered image.
Silverlight 4 Carousel
Demo: http://www.silverlighttoys.com/Samples/SL4/Carousel/
This demo is implemented using Silverlight 4′s Drag and Drop and Perspective Transforms functionalities. The user can drag images from their local machines to the application to generate a custom sized carousel. The current version only supports navigation through the Previous and Next buttons and arrow keys on the keyboard. The spacing between the items can be adjusted to tailor the size of the carousel. The images can be selected to view their full size and enable the options to print and save the selected image.
Silverlight 4 Shader Webcam
Demo: http://www.silverlighttoys.com/Samples/SL4/CamShaderSandbox/
This is a fun demo that allows the application to utilizes Silverlight 4′s Webcam support. The user can select a custom pixel shader in the left pane and view the video rendering with the selected shader. An upcoming version of the application will allow the user to save and print screenshots with the selected shader.