When Microsoft rolled out its Silverlight application platform this week, it threw down the proverbial gauntlet, so to speak, at longtime rival Adobe, whose Flash product has thus far been the dominant interactive content creation tool on the market. The availability of Silverlight will undoubtedly create more choice for developers and users, and may be particularly compelling to some if the rumors about plans to make some components available as open source are true.

Source: Microsoft Silverlight: Flash Killer or Wannabe?