Getting started with silverlight

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Disclaimer (6/18):   I have been sending people to www.silverlight.net (the ultimate place for all things silverlight) and they have been coming back with “there is a lot, can you make recommendations for quick ramp-up” or “love the how-tos, but I want a little more on road-map, foundation and architecture” ..

Here is the "getting started" doc I had as of 5/20... [let me know what I have missed since]..
Note: List assumes you are a little familiar with Javascript/HTML and or .NET..

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Day 1.

You must begin with ScottGu’s write-up on silverlight .

In parallel to watching probably 3 to 4 hours of video that he points to:

1. Run some of the gallery demos,

2. Download the run-time and tools from the Getting Started page.

To recap his suggested video list for Silverlight 1.0

  1. Building Rich Web Experiences using Silverlight and Javascript for Developers
  2. Deep Dive on Silverlight Media Integration
  3. Developing ASP.NET AJAX Controls with Silverlight  

For Silverlight 1.1, I still recommending you look at #1 above to get a good sense of the core, and then add:

  1. Building Silverlight Applications using .NET (Part 1) 
  2. Building Silverlight Applications using .NET (Part 2) 
  3. Extending the Browser Programming Model with Silverlight   -- despite the title, this is a must watch. integrating HTML and Silverlight via managed code is cool and very useful.

Day 2
You should “play” with the technology in a safe sandbox ( your choices below) :

· Quickstarts for those less familiar with XAML and/or HTML and/or our tools

· if the quickstart navigation paradigm is not your thing, try the Mix hands-on labs (Keyword: silverlight, Type hands-on-labs; the HOLs code and files in doc format is here

· Screencasts for those wanting scenario specific ideas tutorials and gallery demos for those needing e2e.

Day 3 Build some thing from scratch. It is really not hard..
If needing a place to host it, try silverlight.live.com
If needing help, try the forums. Or try the questions I have stumped on myself at Silverlight FAQ (plus add yours to that FAQ please).

For tracking silverlight, here are the blogs that I read –apologies to any one I missed, do let me know you might be on my subscriptions in a different category (e.g. wpf or ajax) --.

UIFx leadership team (expects ASPX + Silverlight + cool .NET stuff)
Scott Guthrie (web  rss )
Brad Abrams ( web rss )
Nikhil Kothari ( web rss )

 Silverlight 1.0 and 1.1 team ( all things silverlight )
Mike Harsh (web rss)
Joe Stegman (web rss)
Ed Maia ( web rss )
Nick Kramer(web rss)
Ashish Shetty (web rss)
Dave Relyea (web rss)
Vivek Dalvi ( web rss )
Greg Schecter ( web rss )

MS client Evangelists: (expect silverlight + WPF + Expression )
Laurence Moroney (web rss)
Ernie Booth (web rss)
Tim Sneath (web rss)
Karsten Januszeusky (web rss)
Jaime Rodriguez ( web rss )

Silverlight marketing/product mgmt

Sean Alexander (web rss)
Barak Cohen (web rss)

Community enthusiasts/experts (the real stuff)
Chad Campbell (web rss)
Wynapse (web rss)
Tim Heuer ( web rss )
Bryant Likes ( web rss)

You can get the OPML attached...  

Silverlight.opml