Microsoft's Silverlight makes its awaited debut.

Byline: Benjamin J. Romano

Sep. 5--One of Microsoft's most anticipated new products is a free, tiny download that will run on Windows, Mac and eventually Linux, and went from a roughed-out preview to a final product in less than a year.

The company on Tuesday night announced the availability of Silverlight, its online player for videos and interactive Web applications that will compete with Adobe's Flash, the dominant platform for Internet multimedia.

The software is one of the first new Microsoft products to be developed under Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, who took over that title from Bill Gates last June.

Silverlight is a major …