InfoWorld report that Microsoft has released initial public beta versions of Silverlight 2 and Internet Explorer 8

The company announced the releases at its Mix08 conference in Las Vegas. Implemented as a plug-in, Silverlight is Microsoft's horse in the industry's race to provide the most eye-catching visual effects; it competes with Adobe's Flash Player and related technologies. Silverlight is cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device, Microsoft said. Internet Explorer 8, meanwhile, offers capabilities such as improved interoperability and full compliance with the Cascading Style Sheets 2.1 specification.

Microsoft releases Silverlight 2 beta and IE8 Beta 1