LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft bolstered its appeal to Web developers and designers with a host of new and updated Web technologies announced at its MIX09 Web development conference.

Experience was the word of the day in the opening keynote from both Bill Buxton, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, and Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's .Net Developer Division, said organizations that create more intuitive, more engaging experiences on the Web are able to reduce costs and increase sales.

Moreover, Microsoft demonstrated a series of technologies to enable developers to deliver a rich, interactive presence on the Web. As part of the company's push to enable a richer Web experience, Microsoft released Silverlight 3 beta and Expression Blend 3 Preview, and continued progress in the cloud with updates to the Azure Services Platform. The company also pointed to strong momentum in platform adoption and demonstrated a number of solutions from key partners including Netflix, Bondi Digital Publishing, StackOverflow.com, KEXP and NBC.