Silverlight

In terms of functionality, Microsoft's Silverlight is similar to Flash. It is used by many developers to create rich web contents. However, for the simple user, Silverlight is just a framework that needs to be installed on a computer, in order to play rich web contents. Obviously, it can be used on Windows platforms, but it is also available for most Mac OS X operating systems.

All you have to do is download and extract an installer and run it. A setup wizard will guide you with step-by-step instructions through the entire installation process. As previously suggested, installing Silverlight is all you have to do. Once the framework is up and running on your Mac, you will be able to play Silverlight-developed contents, on all popular web browsers.

A tabbed user interface can be accessed through a shortcut in the Applications folder. It doesn't offer too many options, but you can find a few useful customization controls. Silverlight can be set to check for components that are needed for copyrighted contents and download them automatically. You can also enable hardware accelerated playback, choose input devices, like webcams and microphones, set up permissions and more. Another useful feature is the possibility of enabling or disabling an application storage feature, to allow websites to store contents on your computer or prevent them.

Even if you are not a developer, you will still want to have Silverlight on your Mac, if you want to run certain contents on the web.