How to download and install Silverlight on Windows 11/10

There was a time when Adobe Flash was the king of the internet, and Microsoft wanted a piece of the pie. In a bid to make a breakthrough, the company came up with a tool known as Silverlight, and the idea was to dethrone Flash and reign supreme.

Unfortunately for the software giant, things didn’t go as planned. Developers weren’t rushing to develop internet apps using Silverlight, and users of Windows failed to go out in the millions to download the plugin. Not to mention, the web was going through a period where it needed to move away from these plugins. As it stands right now, HTML5 has taken over and both Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight are dead in the water, but right now, if you still want to download and install Silverlight for whatever reason on Windows 11/10, well, you can.

Download & install Silverlight on Windows 11/10

Bear in mind that if you’re going to create web apps, users are required to install the Silverlight plugin for their web browsers. The problem is, the plugin is no longer broadly supported.

We know that Netflix uses the tool to deliver content to Windows and Mac users where available, but that’s about it in terms of support from major companies.

But hey, if this is the route you want to take in both app and web development, then who are we to say otherwise? Wed rather assist in reaching your goals, and that’s why we’ve decided to share how to download and install Silverlight 5 on Windows 10.

It’s the latest version of the now deprecated software, so don’t go in expecting any further updates in the near or distant future.

OK, so installing the newest version of Silverlight is very simple, as you might imagine.

Visit the official website, then from there, make sure to click on the button that says Download Now. Follow the instructions and that should be the completion of the mission.

When will Silverlight support end?

When it comes down to web browsers, the tool no longer works on versions of Chrome and Firefox after 2015 and 2016 respectively. Microsoft Edge was never on the support list, so that leaves Internet Explorer 11 until 2021.

As for Windows 10, support will end come the year 2021 as well, so we’d like to recommend making serious moves to locate a replacement before then. HTML5 works really well, and Java too, so take a look at those going forward.