Web work software

Adobe on Monday released the long-awaited AIR download for running Web applications offline, but Microsoft is readying an update to its Silverlight platform that it hopes will keep Web developers in its camp. Microsoft will release the first beta of Silverlight 2 "shortly," said Scott Guthrie, a general manager in Microsoft's developer division in charge of Web development, in his blog on Friday. Next week, the company is hosting its Mix '08 Web development and design conference in Las Vegas. Silverlight 2 is a ***

What a deal--an eBay user known as "powerjoe1998" has scooped up Web 2.0 calendar site Kiko for $258,100 in an auction that ended Saturday. Kiko's creators put the software up for sale last week, citing a desire to get it off their hands and work on other projects. No word yet as to who "powerjoe1998" is or what he plans to do with his new six-figure purchase. ***

Like many people, I was excited by Wednesday's announcement that Yahoo and Microsoft were finally ready, at least with test versions, with instant- messaging programs that could talk with one another. I arrived in the office Thursday eager to start chatting across networks. I had been really excited for this ever since the two announced plans for the link-up back in October. It turned out there was more to getting up and running than I bargained for. First of all, I found it to be less than intuitive to get the right software on both ends. ***