Microsoft Silverlight is a cool plug-in for your browser that brings a whole new set of Web experiences to your computer such as “deep zoom,” object manipulation, high resolution graphics, and HD video just to name a few.
While Silverlight allows you to view a new breed of Web sites regardless of operating system or browser, it does intrude upon your computer in a few different ways. First, “application storage” is a feature of Silverlight which allows Silverlight Web sites to store data on your hard drive. Some instances of data being stored on your computer are similar to cookies where your custom settings are stored. Other instances are more like when your browser downloads images to your PC to make future page loads faster. For example, Silverlight applications loaded with high resolution features such as maps, games, or images may store content on your computer to provide you with better performance.
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Application storage starts off with low storage space quotas of just 1MG but Silverlight applications can request more quota space, which you must approve. Be careful approving “unlimited” quota space requests as you’re essentially allowing the Web site to store as much content as it wants on your computer’s hard drive.
Because many Silverlight applications take advantage of huge files, your hard drive could fill up quickly with unlimited quotas. In addition, even if you have not granted unlimited quotas, it won’t take long for your hard drive to become cluttered with dozens of smaller Silverlight application files - many of which you will never need.
To take control of Silverlight application storage, go to any Silverlight Web site such as Silverlight’s Showcase and right-click inside the Silverlight control. This brings up a small option that says, “Silverlight Configuration.” Click Silverlight Configuration and a small dialog box will appear. Click the Application Storage tab.
You will see a list of all Web sites that are storing content on your computer, how much is currently stored, and the Web site’s current quota. You can either highlight individual Web sites and delete the content individually or you can click the Delete All button. If you do not want any Web sites to store content on your hard drive, remove the checkmark next to Enable Application Storage.
In addition to allowing Web sites to store content on your hard drive, Silverlight also transmits computer-specific information from your computer to Microsoft and the Web sites that you visit such as IP address, hardware ID, browser, operating system, and other non-personally identifiable information. This is similar to the same information that your browser freely shares with Web sites. When in the Silverlight Configuration dialog box, take some time to read the privacy policy so that you are aware of exactly what is being collected.
