If the RIA you are developing solves a real problem efficiently in a way that appeals to end user, it will take off.
But the adoption rate of a RIA depends a lot on the platform you use for development.
Gmail is a succesful RIA and it uses JavaScript and Flash.
The advantage of sticking on to JavaScript/Flash over Sliverlight is that, they are already very popular. If efficiently done JavaScript and Flash can reside side by side delivering a great user experience.
So for the time being,because of Silverlight's low adoption rate,a SilverLight only product may not be a great idea.
Regarding Adobe Flex, Flex its nothing more than another development tool for churning out swf files.The end product is plain old Flash. Adobe Flex allows rapid flash development for those unfamiliar with Flash CS3 (CS3's timeline concept doesn't appeal to most developers). Thanks to Adobe's marketing efforts,most people mistakingly think Flex is something RIA exclusive,while its just a development environment that churns out Flash.
SilverLight does solve a lot of headache and reduce learning curve for the traditional .NET developer when it comes to building RIAs.But from a enduser's perspective, it doesn't really bring in any specific advantage. Anything that can be done in SilverLight can be done using Flash or a combination of Flash and JavaScript. I really dont see any enduser specific advantage for using SilverLight, as it is now. Why force users to install new plugins , when the existing infrastructure(JavaScript and flash) can deliver the same user experience?
Adobe AIR is a way to convert your existing Javascript/flash/html based RIA to a desktop app. But this will require the end user to install AIR runtime first(approx 11 MB download). Compared to Mozilla Prism, Adobe AIR is super advanced in the kind of desktop integration it can impart to your web based RIA.A js/flash RIA can leverage on AIR without any tweaks.
In short, use Javascript/HTML as much as possible. Flash when you need to integrate rich media (or functionalities that require realtime user interaction like Chat ) to your js .I wont recommend Silverlight .
But the adoption rate of a RIA depends a lot on the platform you use for development. Gmail is a succesful RIA and it uses JavaScript and Flash. The advantage of sticking on to JavaScript/Flash over Sliverlight is that, they are already very popular. If efficiently done JavaScript and Flash can reside side by side delivering a great user experience. So for the time being,because of Silverlight's low adoption rate,a SilverLight only product may not be a great idea.
Regarding Adobe Flex, Flex its nothing more than another development tool for churning out swf files.The end product is plain old Flash. Adobe Flex allows rapid flash development for those unfamiliar with Flash CS3 (CS3's timeline concept doesn't appeal to most developers). Thanks to Adobe's marketing efforts,most people mistakingly think Flex is something RIA exclusive,while its just a development environment that churns out Flash.
SilverLight does solve a lot of headache and reduce learning curve for the traditional .NET developer when it comes to building RIAs.But from a enduser's perspective, it doesn't really bring in any specific advantage. Anything that can be done in SilverLight can be done using Flash or a combination of Flash and JavaScript. I really dont see any enduser specific advantage for using SilverLight, as it is now. Why force users to install new plugins , when the existing infrastructure(JavaScript and flash) can deliver the same user experience?
Adobe AIR is a way to convert your existing Javascript/flash/html based RIA to a desktop app. But this will require the end user to install AIR runtime first(approx 11 MB download). Compared to Mozilla Prism, Adobe AIR is super advanced in the kind of desktop integration it can impart to your web based RIA.A js/flash RIA can leverage on AIR without any tweaks.
In short, use Javascript/HTML as much as possible. Flash when you need to integrate rich media (or functionalities that require realtime user interaction like Chat ) to your js .I wont recommend Silverlight .