Need to make a Silverlight app portable?

Sure, you could just create an exe from studio. But what if you don’t have Studio available and want to quickly package up an xap file? Blendables Labs Desklighter allows you to package Silverlight xap files in an executable for distribution.

Desklighter is a windows utility that can convert Silverlight applications into standalone desktop applications. The output from Desklighter is a single executable file that can display the Silverlight content on windows desktops without requiring a hosting server or a browser. Desklighter enables users to carry a Silverlight application off the web to wherever they need it.

Celso Gomes has relaunched the Nibbles Tutorials website using Silverlight 2. It features a new navigation structure and updated design.

Celso runs a great site with well thought out WPF and Silverlight tutorials. If you like it let him know on his Blog.

The Microsoft Expression team have released an updated version of Deep Zoom Composer (v0.9.000.5) to coincide with the release of Silverlight 2. There are a few minor reliability updates in this release but most notably are the updated project templates that are made to be 100% compatible with Silverlight 2.

According to Long Zheng @ IStartedSomething, Microsoft recently hinted at a consumer version of Surface in a recent survey. As if we didn’t have reason enough to be excited about the forthcoming Surface SDK

The Momochrome Blog has a demo of their latest app called mono.flv. It’s a server extension for IIS that allows Silverlight to deliver Flash Video (.flv) content. It does his by converting .flv files to .wmv on the fly, then saves the output for future requests.
Further reading on the Monochrome blog

SMU has launched an enhanced Mustang All-Access Silverlight multimedia player in partnership with CBS College Sports.

Microsoft is planning to release the Surface SDK at the upcoming Professional Developer Conference slated for late October

The ‘Developing for Microsoft Surface’ session will cover the Surface SDK and how it aligns with multi-touch developer roadmap for Windows 7 and WPF.

This session introduces the newly available Microsoft Surface SDK. Hear about the unique attributes of Microsoft Surface computing, dive into vision-based object recognition and core controls like ScatterView, and learn how the Surface SDK aligns with the multi-touch developer roadmap for Windows 7 and WPF. Additionally, learn how you can become a part of the expanding partner ecosystem for Microsoft Surface and leverage your existing investments in WPF and Visual Studio to build engaging end user applications. Attendees will receive access to the Microsoft Surface SDK.

Wondering what’s new in the Silverlight 2 Beta 2 Runtime?
The Silverlight website has a nice (quick) Feature Matrix comparing the Silverlight Runtimes

Service pack 1 for Microsoft Expression Media 2 is available for download for Windows and Mac. In this release over 400 bugs were fixed along with the addition of a host of new features including Geo-tagging and Virtual Earth support. More details available on the Microsoft Help & Support website.

Chaitanya Sareen writes on the E7 blog:

The key thing to recognize is that the problem is not necessarily that the taskbar doesn’t span, but that more room is required to show more information about windows. So, it stands to reason that we should come up with the best solution to this problem, independent of how many displays the customer has. We thought it would be good to just offer a brief discussion on the specifics of solving this design problem as it is one we have spent considerable time on. One of the approaches in general we are working to do more of, is to change things when we know it will be a substantial improvement and not also introduce complexities that outweigh the benefits we are trying to achieve.

Sounds like they’ll have a unique solution to the issue.