Microsoft Vs Adobe

Now their is a hot news after the summer olympics at Beijing,the web war between the Microsoft Corp and Adobe Systems Inc over the Internet's next big competition. Microsoft's Silverlight technology and rival Adobe's Flash format are currently locked in a race over who delivers the world's online video, but the ultimate prize may be who powers the next generation of Web software.Using Silverlight, the NBC site offers a glimpse of what is possible with future Web applications because viewers are able to watch up to four videos at once or follow the action with an online commentary that runs alongside the video.
More than 40 million US viewers have gone to NBC's Olympics site to watch some of the 2,200 hours of live footage from the Beijing games. All those viewers need is a Silverlight player on their browser if they do not have one already.By building up Silverlight's user base, the world's largest software maker is looking to win over developers who see Web platforms such as Silverlight and Flash as a new way to deliver powerful Web-linked programmes incorporating rich graphics.Currently, those platforms are mainly reserved for multimedia applications such as Google Inc's popular YouTube site, which runs on Adobe's Flash technology.After years of selling licenses for software that runs on a computer's hard drive, Microsoft is facing a new batch of competitors providing software free as a service through the Web browser in exchange for online advertising.Taking advantage of Flash, Silverlight and other more simple Web-coding technologies such as AJAX, a new breed of interactive Web software -- known as rich Internet applications (RIAs) -- has emerged.
Adobe plans to take the next step with tools called Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), which allow programmes to run on the Web or offline on a computer's desktop.On the other hand, Microsoft is approaching Silverlight from the opposite direction. It plans to take advantage of its legions of outside developers experienced in writing for its ubiquitous Windows operating system.The next version of Silverlight, being tested now and due later this year, will support Microsoft's .NET framework -- tools used by developers to create desktop applications that work on Windows.Microsoft introduced its first version of Silverlight a year ago, but Gartner's Valdes said the second version is the first real form of Silverlight since the inclusion of .NET support turns the technology into a great revolution.

Let see who will win this race,Microsoft or Adobe.