Microsoft will soon have an answer to the popular Adobe Flash Player: its own plug-in called Microsoft Silverlight. Like Flash, Silverlight plays media files and displays interactive Web applications. And it works on Windows, Mac and in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. It will have an accompanying development tool for developers and designers, just like Flash. The targeted audience for the release is media and entertainment companies. Partners who have already shown interest in using the software include Major League Baseball and Netflix. The beta will be released later this month at the Mix07 conference for designers and Web developers, but only time will tell if Silverlight will shine.

With Adobe’s new CS3 line now shipping, you may be wondering what is so special about the new Photoshop CS3 Extended Edition. It’s basically the same application with “extended” capabilities, and is meant to target new vertical markets like architecture, engineering, medicine and science. It is ideal for creative professionals using 3D and motion, and the extra features are targeted at video postproduction tasks, 3D texture-map editing and scientific image analysis.

Click here for a comprehensive buying guide to all the Adobe CS3 products.

In its largest acquisition in four years, Business Objects has purchased software maker Cartesis for $300 million. Cartesis makes performance management software, including financial reporting and governance risk and compliance products. Known for business intelligence products aimed at the CIO of a company, this new purchase hints that they aim to expand their sales to CFOs as well. The deal follows a string of smaller acquisitions by Business Objects in the past year.

5 billion people in the world have yet to benefit from the PC revolution. Microsoft hopes to reach 1 billion of those people with a new program for students that it will present to governments worldwide. It entails a low-cost bundle of Office and Windows. The $3 Student Innovation Suite includes Windows XP Starter, Office Home & Student 2007, Windows Live Mail Desktop and several educational products. To be eligible, governments must pay for at least half the price of the student’s PC.