Moonlight 2 expands Silverlight capabilities for Linux

From InfoWorld: The Novell-sponsored Mono Project will announce on Thursday availability of Moonlight 2, an open source browser plug-in that brings to Unix and Linux desktops the capabilities of the Microsoft Silverlight multimedia platform.

The company also will announce an extension of a patent covenant with Microsoft in which Microsoft has pledged not to sue users and distributors of Moonlight, this time covering every Linux variant and not just Novell's Suse Linux. Novell and Microsoft also have agreed to continue development of Moonlight. Version 2 is downloadable at this Web page.

With Moonlight 2, Novell is offering enhancements for video, audio, and smooth streaming as well as backing for open source video codecs and data binding. "This is our Silverlight 2 implementation with some pieces from Silverlight 3," said Miguel de Icaza, vice president of the developer platform at Novell and the person in charge of Moonlight.

"The significance of Moonlight is simple," said analyst Stephen O'Grady, of RedMonk. " It extends the Silverlight footprint into Linux and Unix territory. That's useful for users on those platforms that will increasingly be accessing Silverlight-based assets that would otherwise be opaque to them, and it's useful for Microsoft because it gives them a better cross-platform story to tell as they work to compete with Adobe. "

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