Microsoft Silverlight will reach the end of support on October 12, 2021. Silverlight development framework is currently only supported on Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 11, with support for Internet Explorer 10 ending on January 31, 2020. There is no longer support for Chrome, Firefox, or any browser using the Mac operating system.
Frequently Asked Questions
On Windows 10 the default browser is Edge, this is incompatible with Silverlight and MS will not be adding Silverlight support. You should use Internet Explorer on Windows 10. Type Internet Explorer in the 'Search web and Windows' box on the taskbar. Check your operating system and browser are on the list. Jan 04, 2016 Edge does not support add-ons yet, so Silverlight will not work on it. When you come across these sort of problems switch to Windows 10's built-in IE11 which can be found here: How to find Internet Explorer (IE) on Windows 10. You can also quickly switch from Edge to IE11 by (in Edge) selecting the three dots (.
What is the current level of support Microsoft will provide for Silverlight?
Microsoft will provide technical help for customers using versions of Silverlight 5 only. Paid technical help is available to customers requiring support with issues beyond install and upgrade. Microsoft will continue to ship updates to the Silverlight 5 Developer Runtime for supported browser versions given that their extensibility model supports plug-ins; this includes updates for security vulnerabilities as determined by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).
Silverlight 5 will support the browser versions listed on the system requirements page through October 12, 2021, or though the lifecycle of the underlying browsers, whichever is shorter. The support page will be updated to reflect compatibility with newer browsers and operating system versions.
Windows 7 will reach its end of support date on January 14, 2020. Will Silverlight be supported as part of the Extended Security Update (ESU) program available for Windows 7 customers?
Silverlight’s lifecycle policy is independent from the Windows 7 policy. After January 14, 2020, customers using Silverlight on Windows 7 will no longer be supported and will no longer receive automatic security updates.
What happens on October 12, 2021? Will existing applications stop working?
Microsoft is not planning to take any specific action to terminate Silverlight applications. After this date, however, Silverlight will be in an unsupported state and will not receive any future quality or security updates.
Will companies be legally allowed to continue to run Silverlight assets after October 12, 2021? What happens to the license to use Silverlight after October 12, 2021?
Silverlight’s license is a perpetual license and is not tied to the continuation of support. While support will be ending in October 2021, this date does not affect the license, which continues in effect for as long as the customer is using the software and complies with the terms of the license.
Can companies obtain a custom agreement to extend Microsoft support past 2021?
There are no plans for extending Silverlight support beyond the existing support dates listed here.
What will happen to the microsoft.com/silverlight website after October 12, 2021?
Silverlight Plugin Mac
The microsoft.com/silverlight website will still be available. However, the Silverlight installer will no longer be available after the end of support date of October 12, 2021.
What is the recommended technology/development framework for customers who want to migrate applications from Silverlight?
There are various options for migrating applications from Silverlight. We recommend that you evaluate the requirements of the application that you are migrating and determine the technology that best suits the application in question:
If your application is non-browser dependent and you’d like to migrate to a Windows Desktop application, we recommend you migrate your application to UWP or WPF on .NET Core.
If your application is web-based, we recommend that you look into Blazor, which allows re-usability of .NET Silverlight code. Blazor lets you build interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript. Blazor apps are composed of reusable web UI components implemented using C#, HTML, and CSS. Both client and server code are written in C#, allowing you to share code and libraries.
Web plug-ins phasing out
The commercial media industry is undergoing a major transition as content providers move away from proprietaryweb plug-in based delivery mechanisms (such as Flash or Silverlight), and replace them with unified plug-in freevideo players that are based on HTML5 specifications and commercial media encoding capabilities. Browsers aremoving away from plug-ins as well, as Microsoft Edge is with ActiveX, and toward more secure extension models.
The transition to plug-in free media has been enabled through the recent development of new specifications:
From W3C: Media Source Extensions for adaptive streaming and Encrypted Media Extensions for content protection.
From the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG): DASH and Common Encryption (CENC).
These specifications were designed and developed to enable interoperable streaming to a variety of media platformsand devices. By focusing on interoperable solutions, content providers are able to reduce costs and at the sametime users are able to access the content they want on the device they prefer using the application or web browser of theirchoice. Microsoft believes that this is a huge benefit to both content producers and consumers, and is committedto supporting companies that make this transition.
With these changes in mind, support for ActiveX has been discontinued in Microsoft Edge, and that includes removingsupport for Silverlight. Microsoft continues to support Silverlight, and Silverlight out-of-browser applications can continue to use it. Silverlight will also continue to be supported in Internet Explorer 11, so sites continue to haveSilverlight options in Windows 10. At the same time, Microsoft encourages companies that are using Silverlight formedia to begin the transition to DASH/MSE/CENC/EME based designs and to follow a single encoding work flow enabledby CENC. This represents the most broadly interoperable solution across browsers, platforms, content,and devices going forward.
Continue to run your Silverlight applications
Silverlight Plugin What Is It
Given the growing restrictions to run Silverlight applications in modern browsers, users may find it difficult to use Silverlight in-browser applications.One way to continue offering an existing Silverlight application on Windows 7 and MacOS to users is to turn it into a Silverlight out-of-browser application, installed with a standalone installer (installer.exe). To do this:
- Change the application configuration to Out-Of-Browser.
- Develop a standalone installer to help users get through the hurdle of installing the application on supported browsers and browser versions.
Edge Silverlight Plugin Windows
New applications should use an SDK
Edge Silverlight Plugin Chrome
Our recommended approach for developing Windows 7 and MacOS applications using PlayReady is to use a PlayReady SDK provided by a Microsoft partner. The SDK may be an Electron SDK, or any other type for Windows or Mac native applications. For more information, see the list of PlayReady partners.