© Reuters Silverlight is a web browser plugin from Microsoft that's being slowly phased out. Reuters

• Microsoft Silverlight Test
• Microsoft Silverlight Install
• Microsoft Silverlight Update
• Microsoft Silverlight Needed

Microsoft Silverlight is a programmable web browser plugin that enables features such as animation, vector graphics and audio-video playback so you can experience rich Internet applications. Silverlight offers a flexible programming model that supports AJAX, VB, C#, Python, and Ruby, and integrates with existing Web applications. Microsoft Silverlight (or simply Silverlight) is a deprecated application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, similar to Adobe Flash. Microsoft has set the support end date for Silverlight 5 to be October 2021. Silverlight applications could be written in any.NET programming language. As such, any development tools which can be used with.NET languages can work with Silverlight, provided they can target the Silverlight CoreCLR for hosting the application, instead of the.NET Framework CLR. Microsoft has positioned Microsoft Expression Blend as a companion tool to Visual Studio for the design of. Couldn't find anything current. My problem is Silverlight Install pops up and blocks a site I need to see in Google Chrome and it doesn't even support Chrome any longer, which it even tells you when you click install. Go back to the site and the Silverlight Install is still sitting there blocking things I need to see.

• Microsoft Silverlight is a component of many web browsers that lets them play music and videos.
• Silverlight used to be incredibly popular, but was eventually made obsolete by HTML5.
• Almost no major web browser still uses Silverlight, and it will be fully shut down in October 2021.
• Visit Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Microsoft Silverlight is a component in many web browsers that helps them stream and display video, music, clickable menus, and other types of 'rich media' content. Launched in 2007, it was intended as a replacement for Adobe Flash, which was the de facto plugin for playing media online at the time.

Silverlight has a troubled history, though, and has been largely abandoned by Microsoft, third-party developers, and users since about 2015. If you've heard of Silverlight, it's probably from Netflix nagging you to install it a few years ago.

Microsoft will completely retire the remaining Silverlight elements in October 2021. But before then, here's what you should know about Silverlight

What is Microsoft Silverlight?

As stated, Silverlight is a browser plugin that was meant to help users stream videos and use websites more easily. Its software development kit (SDK) and other resources are still available to download for free.

Silverlight started strong - NBC even used the platform to stream the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing - and the plugin was available for most major browsers for several years. Silverlight directly supported most video and animation formats like H.264, MP3, MP4, and WMV files without forcing the user to download additional software.

Silverlight ran in the background in most browsers, although notably many Mac users in the early-to-mid 2010s faced issues running Netflix because of it.

The platform soon became redundant, however, with the release of HTML5. HTML5 is a rich media platform integrated into all modern web browsers that eliminates the need to install a plug-in like Silverlight (or Adobe Flash, for that matter).

Major online partners quickly moved from Silverlight to HTML5 - Netflix and Amazon Prime Video both made the transition in 2015, for example. Google Chrome dropped support for Silverlight in 2015 and Firefox abandoned the platform in 2017. Macs haven't supported Silverlight since 2016. Even most versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer stopped using Silverlight at the start of 2020.

Currently, the only major browser that continues to support Silverlight is Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 10. And even it will discontinue it by the end of 2021.

The end of Silverlight

Microsoft hasn't actively developed Silverlight since about 2015, and the platform will be completely retired on October 12, 2021. At that time, Microsoft will stop providing updates for the platform, and will remove access to the installer as well as the SDK and other resources.

However, since Silverlight has a 'perpetual license,' existing Silverlight applications won't be shut down. It just means that they won't be updated, and it may be harder to find a browser that can run them.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

This article provides information about resolving various errors reported by online games in Internet Explorer.

Original product version: Internet Explorer 9 and later versions
Original KB number: 2528246

Summary

When playing online games from websites like Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, and other websites using Internet Explorer you may notice that the online games may not perform as expected. Playing or attempting to play online games may give the following results:

• Games may fail to download
• Games will not start
• Games may not load completely
• Some game functionality may not work
• You may be dropped from a game or game website when playing a game
• Your screen may go black when playing a game
• Games may freeze during play

Note

If you are having issues with Internet Explorer functionality other than just games, see Tips for solving problems when Internet Explorer crashes or stops working.

More information

The most common cause is a missing or outdated add-on that's needed to play the game. Most online games are based on Silverlight, Flash, or Java and do require Internet Explorer add-ons to function. In most cases, ensuring that you have the latest updates for Windows, Internet Explorer and any Internet Explorer add-ons can help resolve most issues. To troubleshoot online games issues in Internet Explorer do the following:

Internet Explorer

If you are using ActiveX Filtering or Tracking Protection in Internet Explorer 9 or a later version, some content like games or videos might be disabled. To find out if you are using ActiveX filtering or Tracking Protection, see one of following articles:

• Use ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft Silverlight

For games that use Silverlight, issues can be resolved by updating to the latest version of Silverlight. The following troubleshooting steps may help to resolve the issue:

• Install the latest version of Silverlight and then make sure Silverlight is enabled in Internet Explorer
• If you need to uninstall and then reinstall Silverlight visit the Get Microsoft Silverlight website and click the Uninstall Silverlight tab
• For help with Silverlight issues, visit the Silverlight Community website

Microsoft Silverlight Test

Java

For games that require Java add-ons, issues can be resolved by updating the add-ons to the latest version. The following troubleshooting steps may help to resolve the issue:

• Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed
• In some cases, it may be necessary to uninstall Java from your installed programs list and then reinstall the latest version
• For help with Java issues, visit the Java Help Center website

Adobe Flash

For games that require Java add-ons, issues can be resolved by updating the add-ons to the latest version. The following troubleshooting steps may help to resolve the issue:

• Update to the latest version of Adobe Flash
• In some cases, it may be necessary to uninstall Adobe Flash from your installed programs list and then reinstall the latest version
• For help with Adobe Flash issues, visit the Adobe Flash Help and Support website

Adobe Shockwave Player

For games that require Adobe Shockwave Player add-ons, issues can be resolved by updating the add-ons to the latest version. The following troubleshooting steps may help to resolve the issue:

• Update to the latest version of Adobe Shockwave.
• In some cases, it may be necessary to uninstall Adobe Shockwave Player from your installed programs list and then reinstall the latest version.
• For help with Adobe Shockwave issues, visit the Adobe Shockwave Player Help and Support website.

Make sure the add-ons are installed and enabled

You will need to make sure that the necessary Add-ons are enabled in Internet Explorer, to do this follow the steps below:

1. Start Internet Explorer and click the Tools icon and then click Internet Options.
2. Click the Programs Tab and click the Manage add-ons button.
3. From the Show dropdown selection, select Run without Permissions.

Microsoft Silverlight Install

Look for the following add-ons in the displayed list and make sure the Status is listed as Enabled.

Note

Microsoft Silverlight Update

When checking to see if the add-on is installed you can also verify the current version of the add-on.

Microsoft Silverlight Needed

• The add-on for Microsoft Silverlight is listed as:

  • Microsoft Silverlight

• The add-ons for Adobe Flash and Adobe Shockwave Player are listed as:

  • Shockwave Active X Control
  • Shockwave Flash Object

• The add-on for Java is listed as:

  • Java Plug-in (May be multiple add-ons)