<p><a href="http://fupeg.blogspot.com/">Michael</a> wrote about <a href="http://fupeg.blogspot.com/2007/09/no-silverlight-for-you.html">how Silverlight is meant for designers</a>. In fact, you should read it before you continue.</p>

<p>I believe Microsoft thinks software should be developed in team. It doesn&#8217;t matter if it is a pair or a big company with thousands of people working on that product. If you want to produce some good software, you need people to work on its different sides ( programming, design, database, etc&#8230;). More and more, the user interface is becoming a lot more important in software development. Microsoft is answering this demand with Expression Blend, a great tool for designers to implement good interfaces. It might be harder for a hardcore programmer to catch up with all its power, but it is possible! I took a look around Blend Expression and it was pretty familiar to me.</p>

<p>Regarding Silverlight as a <span class="caps">RIA</span> platform, I believe it will not be as used as Flash unless they come up with true 3D functionalities. Designers are used to Flash and if they don&#8217;t see any advantage, they won&#8217;t change! Maybe that&#8217;s why Microsoft doesn&#8217;t see Silverlight targeting the web. And on the desktop, .NET+Silverlight+WPF+... can&#8217;t be compared to <span class="caps">AIR</span>+Flash&#8230;</p>

<p>And by the way, if you are in Portugal, Expression European Designer Tour is coming up October, 24 and you can see some details in <a href="http://filipefreitas.net/blog/?p=561" target="_blank">Filipe Freitas blog</a>.</p>