Moonlight (runtime)

Moonlight was an open-source implementation of the Silverlight 1.0 and 2.0 APIs, targeting primarily Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Its purpose was to enable users of those platforms to run Silverlight applications within their browsers and on their desktops, as Silverlight itself was a proprietary technology developed primarily for Windows and macOS.

Developed by Novell (and later Xamarin), Moonlight aimed to provide a cross-platform runtime environment compatible with the Microsoft Silverlight specification. It allowed developers to write applications once using Silverlight and have them run on both Microsoft's native Silverlight runtime and the Moonlight runtime.

Key features of Moonlight included:

• XAML support: The ability to parse and render XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), the declarative language used to define Silverlight user interfaces.

• .NET compatibility: Leveraging Mono, Novell's open-source implementation of the .NET Framework, to provide compatibility with the .NET CLR (Common Language Runtime) and .NET libraries.

• Plugin architecture: Integration with web browsers through a plugin, allowing Silverlight applications to run within web pages.

• Media playback: Support for playing multimedia content encoded in formats compatible with Silverlight.

The project was eventually discontinued. Factors contributing to its discontinuation include the evolution of web technologies (such as HTML5), the increasing importance of mobile platforms, and Microsoft's own shift away from Silverlight towards newer frameworks and technologies. While Moonlight provided a valuable cross-platform solution for a period, its relevance diminished over time due to these industry changes.