FACEBOOK Desktop

Microsoft has released a powerful Facebook desktop client, based on Silverlight 4. Facebook Logo We had already reviewed many Facebook applications for desktop in the past like Fishbowl, Notifications 2 or ISeeYoo. Most of these are mere notification or status update applications for Facebook. But the current Facebook desktop client from Microsoft is way ahead of these applications. The features packed in this desktop client with the simplicity and ease of use, can challenge any Adobe Air based application very easily.

The client is still a developer preview release and is available for download on Windows and Mac.

NOTE: Before you can install this rich facebook client application you need to install SILVERLIGHT in your desktop.

Download SILVERLIGHT first.

Here is the link to navigate and install the application.

Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications with emphasis on multimedia, animations, and graphics, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for most web browsers. While early versions of Silverlight focused on streaming media, current versions support multimedia, graphics and animation, and give developers support for CLI languages and development tools.

The current version 4 was released in April 2010. It is compatible with multiple web browsers used on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. Mobile devices, starting with Windows Phone 7 and Symbian (Series 60) phones, were expected to be supported in 2010. A free software implementation named Moonlight, developed by Novell in cooperation with Microsoft, is available to bring Silverlight versions 1 and 2 functionality to Linux, FreeBSD and other open source platforms. However, because of redistribution and patent concerns, Linux distributors such as Fedora have decided to exclude Moonlight.

Silverlight Sample Video