>This was my immediate question, "do you have to install .NET framework on each PC". Because to me the advantage of WebForms, obviously, having a thin client. But this guy says that with some technologies today they install .NET framwork right from the web, when user starts the application for the first time. He says that the WinForms make the application considerably richer, in terms of UI, so it justifies making each user to install .NET. Again, we are talking about an "enterprise" application, not a web site (like a store (e.g. Amazon, etc.). Therefore, the number of users is not in millions, not even in thousands.
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>Question for you, Kevin. When you were/are developing your WinForm applications, do you also use Web Services to access/update the data?
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>On your question, I use either web services or remoting, for the client piece to access the application layer (middle-tier). The application layer in turn accesses the data layer.
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>There's no question, with the available technology today, a Winform app will have a more robust UI, and for that reason I prefer Winforms.
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>Yes, the process of installing the .NET framework is very quick and painless - usually. I built a winform app for a financial institution last summer, and they had all sort of policies and rules about installing software on local machines. We eventually got through all of it, but I did mumble (to myself) a few times on whether it would have been better to develop it in a browser!
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We get some interesting reactions from DBAs when they find out our software adds and deletes tables on the fly ;-)