Published project release OpenSilver 2.2continuing the development of the platform Silverlight and allows you to create interactive web applications using C#, F#, XAML and .NET technologies. Silverlight applications compiled with OpenSilver can run in any desktop and mobile browsers that support WebAssembly, but compilation is currently only possible on Windows using Visual Studio. The project code is written in C# and distributed by under MIT license.
In 2021, Microsoft stopped developing and maintaining the Silverlight platform in favor of using standard Web technologies. Initially, the OpenSilver project was aimed at providing tools to extend the life of existing Silverlight applications in the context of the refusal to maintain the platform by Microsoft and the end of support for plug-ins in browsers. OpenSilver supports all the core features of the Silverlight engine, including full support for C# and XAML, as well as implementation of most of the platform's APIs, sufficient to use C# libraries such as Telerik UI, WCF RIA Services, PRISM and MEF.
In its current form, OpenSilver has already gone beyond a layer for extending the life of Silverlight and can be considered as an independent platform for creating new applications. For example, the project develops a development environment (an addition to Visual Studio), provides support for new versions of the C# language and the .NET platform, and provides compatibility with libraries in JavaScript.
OpenSilver is based on code from open source projects Mono (mono-wasm) And Microsoft Blazor (part of ASP.NET Core), and for execution in the browser, applications are compiled into WebAssembly intermediate code. OpenSilver continues development of the project CSHTML5which allows C#/XAML/.NET applications to be compiled into a JavaScript representation that can run in the browser, and extends its codebase to allow C#/XAML/.NET to be compiled into WebAssembly rather than JavaScript.
The new version of OpenSilver adds components to ensure compatibility with applications developed using the visual design environment Visual Studio LightSwitch. With the end of support for the Silverlight plugin, users of such programs were forced to either replace these applications or rely on using Silverlight in the IE mode provided in some versions of Windows, which is not guaranteed to continue to be supported in future Windows updates. The components implemented in OpenSilver 2.2 make it possible to get rid of dependence on IE and run LightSwitch applications in modern web browsers.
Work in modern browsers is achieved by compiling LightSwitch applications into a view that uses modern technologies such as HTML5 and WebAssembly, supported in all browsers, including Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera, and does not require the installation of plugins. In its current form, only a runtime environment is provided for launching LightSwitch applications, without the ability to create programs in the Visual Studio LightSwitch visual code editor. Future releases of OpenSilver are planned to provide development tools that support multiple platforms. In particular, it is planned to create a visual design system for the XAML UI Designer interface, provide integration with the .NET MAUI platform for creating programs for iOS, Android, macOS, Linux and Windows, as well as implement support for XAML Hot Reload, CLI, VS Code and Rider.
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