Best Silverlight Controls

Question

Who provides the best 3rd party Silverlight controls for LOB applications? In the past I’ve used Infragistics for WinForm controls which were very good and they also provide good support. However, they seem to be a bit behind the likes of Telerik in the Silverlight space. I’ve also noticed the Silverlight toolkit as well – are these as robust as Telerik’s? I'd be grateful if anyone could share any opinions or experiences that they may have.

Answer 1

Telerik's controls are much more extensive than those found in the toolkit. On the other hand the toolkit is free and you have access to the source code.

I don't have any experience putting Telerik controls out in the wild to be able to comment on robustness. The toolkit controls are by their own admission not all production quality and I have had issues in the past. However access to the source code means that you can take matters into your own hands if need be. With Telerik one would imagine for their own reputation and commericial reasons the controls would be a lot more robust.

Another factor to consider is that how much work you are willing to do to get things looking just right. The telerik controls being a wider and more parameterised set of controls may allow you to approach your exact visual style more quickly. Using the toolkit may require more effort and you may still need to invent controls of your own.

Answer 2

I have worked a lot with the Telerik components, and I strongly recommend them. Not only are the components really good, but the support you get is excellent. I have also tried the ComponentOne suite, but they did not have the localization functionality I need.

Answer 3

Silverlight Toolkit

Pros: free, open source

Cons: limited functionality, not as many components

Telerik

Pros: well-crafted, robust, professional support

Cons: has to be licensed, uses more resources than Silverlight Toolkit (but usually this doesn't count at LOB)

You might also want to check these libraries out as well (even though I've not evaluated them):

• Infragristics (only CTP available)
• CompomentOne

Answer 4

Here's one more company which offers Silverlight controls. These guys have some pretty cool controls like a Pivot grid.You might also want to check the Syncfusion's offering.

Answer 5

We have Telerik controls and they are generally very good.

My only small complaint is that the documentation is not finished to the same complete and high standard. Still they do give you the source code so you can go digging if something causes a problem.

Their support via forums etc is also very good.

Answer 6

We also provide a pretty comprehensive courseware for getting started with the Telerik Silverlight controls:

http://www.telerik.com/support/documentation-and-tutorials/step-by-step-tutorial-for-silverlight.aspx

As well as a page that you can look at for a quick comparison between what we offer and the MS Toolkit and a brand new page (just saw the final edit last night :D) on performance enhancements for the Telerik suite, which will be live soon.

All in all it comes down to your needs, as mentioned above the Toolkit does have different bands and no set release cycle, plus there are some pretty robust controls in our suite that you won't find in the toolkit. And in regards to the documentation mention above, let us know if you think we're lacking in any area. We've got a few hundred demos beyond the courseware and sample apps on the site, so if you think we need to be more specific on anything give me a shout.

Answer 7

Check out here a detailed comparison between Telerik Controls for Silverlight and the Silverlight toolkit.

http://www.telerik.com/products/silverlight/resources/radcontrols-versus-toolkit-comparison.aspx

Answer 8

Do telerik controls work for windows mobile?

Answer 9

I'm surprised DeveloperExpress didn't make the list yet:

http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/Controls/Silverlight/

Answer 10

Don't touch the Infragistics Silverlight controls. They are buggy and the support offered is very poor. They released a new version of their Silverlight suite that is not even backward compatible.

I've been burnt once...I will hopefully never have to use their controls again.

Answer 11

Xceed also offers a suite of Silverlight controls, and a port of their WPF datagrid that they originally distributed several years ago as free. I think everything is licensed now.

I've never used the controls myself, but perhaps someone else has and can comment.

http://xceed.com/pages/TopMenu/Products/ProductSearch.aspx?Lang=EN-CA&Category=0313a174-5e9a-4a0f-929c-f75c0c2cf093

Answer 12

What do you think of http://blacklight.codeplex.com/ ?