There are two reasons that using Silverlight as the development makes sense. First, Silverlight is cross-plaftorm--enabling developers to create Web-based apps that work on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

The trend toward cloud-based computing--and the launch of Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, coupled with a general explosion of Web-based applications make Silverlight an ideal candidate for development. Using Silverlight means that developers can create apps without the hassle of coding to specific API's ().

The other reason that Silverlight makes sense is that developers are already familiar with it. One of the things that defines a successful smartphone platform is the extent of its apps library--just look at the . By building on a platform that developers already have experience with, Microsoft is making the transition to developing apps for Windows Phone 7 that much easier.

Developers can build apps on Silverlight and port them from Windows 7 desktops, to Linux and Mac OS X systems, as well as to Windows Phone 7 devices with relative ease. The convenience of writing an app once and being able to repackage and cross-market it for various platforms is a great opportunity for developers and a welcome change from having to invest additional time and effort to port apps, or rebuild them from scratch, for each platform.

"It's the same programming model you know today," Microsoft vice president Scott Guthrie explained to Mix'10 attendees. "It isn't 'Silverlight Lite', it isn't 'Silverlight Different', it's Silverlight."