The US baseball season has begun, this time without Microsoft Silverlight.
Official web site MLB.com will instead stream games live using Adobe's Flash player. The league discontinued the Silverlight browser plugin in November after just a year using the technology.
According to CNET, the schism between MLB and Microsoft was formed in part when Microsoft dodged the league's request to allow users to install Silverlight without administrative privileges.
The problem was exacerbated by a number of high-profile glitches, including some on last year's opening day, preventing hundreds from logging on to the service. The league considered Silverlight to be too unstable.
MLB's streaming service is the web's most successful subscription service, and the association behind the website, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, has influence with several other major US sporting leagues and events, CNET says.
Microsoft says Silverlight has had success in the sports arena outside of baseball. The technology powered NBC's webcast of the 2008 Olympics, and will also be used in the network's coverage of the 2010 winter Olympics, Microsoft said.