Silverlight XAP Signing Certificate promotion from Thawte

And the offers keep coming in!  Another one of our key partners for testing XAP signing for trusted applications was Thawte.  Their group helped provide us with valid certificates to verify their process and signing worked as expected (and verified) for Silverlight 4.  Today I just got an email from their marketing department that they would like to offer Silverlight developers a discount on Thawte code-signing certificates to $89 for a 1-year…about 70% off their current rate.  That’s pretty amazing of them to do.

Here’s their terms and details on how to get it…

Terms

• For developers of XAP code for Microsoft Silverlight 4
• Get a single-year code signing certificate for US $89 (over 70% off), or a two-year code signing certificate for US $178 (over 67% off)
• For new Microsoft Authenticode code signing certificates or renewal of existing Microsoft Authenticode certificates
• Enter promotional code MSSILVER when prompted during certificate enrollment/renewal
• Offer expires 01-June-2010, so chop-chop!

How to get the certificate

• Have your enrollment information and credit card ready, and go to http://www.thawte.com/code-signing
• In the Thawte Code Signing Certificate for Microsoft Authenticode section, select the certificate term desired (1 year or 2 years), then click either Buy or Renew.
• This will launch Thawte Certificate Center, where customers enroll for and manage their SSL and code signing certificates.
• The first page will confirm your choice of code type and certificate validity period.
• At the bottom of the page, enter the promotional code MSSILVER. Click the yellow Continue button to see the updated (lower) price applied in real-time.
• Simply continue the process to complete the certificate enrollment.
• The authentication process usually takes about 2 weekdays. Thawte will keep you updated throughout the process.

NOTE: I will say that I recall the Thawte certificate process requiring IE7 or earlier and it did not work well with IE8/Win7.  It actually issued, but there was no way to export the PFX.  Please heed this advice.  Fire up Windows XP Virtual PC like I did and issue the request and use the same machine to pick it up and export.  This is, of course, unless they have indicated they’ve got it working on IE8 now.

Other conditions and stuff to know…

• Thawte code signing certificates are issued to organizations for a specific type of code, such as (in this case) Microsoft Authenticode which will cover XAP developers. Since the certificate is issued to the organization and not the code, the certificate can be used to sign any instance of that type of code generated by the organization, over the entire lifespan of the certificate.
• Thawte code signing certificates follow an authentication process which is very similar to the organization authentication process for Thawte SSL Web Server Certificates, which usually takes about 2 weekdays. Because the organization authentication process is so similar, customers who already have at least one active Thawte SSL certificate will save time, as their organization has already been authenticated.
• To confirm eligibility for the offer, Thawte’s sales or authentication representatives may require verification that the customer is developing XAP code for Silverlight.

Before you start laying on the comments below, yes we all know there are a multitude of ways to get these certificates.  Thawte reached out to me to ensure that Silverlight developers are aware they can get this promotional discount as well.  If you are an existing Thawte customer you can renew your certificate as indicated in the terms above.  If you have questions, please contact their customer service area.

For more information on XAP signing and the reasons/benefits see these posts:

• XAP Signing in Silverlight 4
• HOWTO Video: Sign Silverlight 4 Trusted Applications

Thanks to Thawte for extending this promotion!