Perhaps the fatal blow came from within. Microsoft began pushing its new Windows 8 “Metro” design language and its universal app platform. The company stopped investing in cross-browser, cross-platform plugins and instead focused on native apps for Windows Store. In 2011, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer 10, in Metro mode, would not support plugins—including Silverlight.
: Gradually phased out support, eventually restricting plugins to only those strictly necessary. plugins silverlight
In April 2010, Steve Jobs published his famous “Thoughts on Flash” letter, banning Flash from iOS devices. While aimed at Flash, the logic applied equally to Silverlight: plugins were closed, insecure, drained battery life, and interfered with the browser’s native capabilities. Since Silverlight never worked on iPhones or iPads, any business targeting mobile users was forced to abandon it. Perhaps the fatal blow came from within
Organizations that relied on Silverlight for internal business applications were forced to migrate. Common migration paths included: In 2011, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer 10,
Microsoft officially deprecated Silverlight in 2012 and eventually ended all support on . While the runtime may still be available for download on some official Microsoft pages , it is no longer updated with security patches. Modern Alternatives and Migration