For many folks, April 15 can have an ugly significance with taxes and all. However, in the world of SD Times, April 15, 2009 marks the day that our Rich Internet Application special report is rolling out in both your incoming print issue and on our website. This particular special report serves as a culmination of a multi-month look we gave some of the biggest RIA platforms out there, including Silverlight, Flex, JavaFX and AJAX.

In the report, we talked to developers and the companies themselves to get a sense of what really differentiates the platforms from one another. With this mid-April RIA wave rollin' in, I thought it would also be a good time to summon the four individual platform writeups from the deepening chambers of our website. Without further ado (dim lights, cue "I'm Too Sexy" from Right Said Fred), I bring you the Rendering RIA series for one more turn on the catwalk:  

Adobe Flex: (cameras flash away) In this first part of our RIA Series, we spoke with a developer that created an application for the Discovery Channel. Explore your world!

Microsoft Silverlight: This exploration of Silverlight features some input from a CBS College Sports executive on why they chose the platform as a media player for their site.

AJAX: Developer Dave Meeker talks about a portal he created for the U.S. Air Force! Roger that. 

Sun's JavaFX: Jim Weaver jumps for JavaFX joy so greatly, that he even writes his own blog about it.

RIA Hooray!!!!