Hi Matt.

>StrataFrame on has a 20 day trial. I am not a full-time programmer, it’s just something I love doing, but only get to do 10-15 hours per week, and then some at night and weekends. It’s like a hobby, but it is real, and every single aspect of our company’s daily activity centers around my app. It's just that I also have other responsibilities that are not compputer related.

I know for a fact that you can ask for an extension of this period if you need so.


>Even with a good framework, would I need to consider a controls package like DevExpress?

That depends on what you want to accomplish. StrataFrame will give you a toolbox with SF controls, and with wrapped Infragistics and DevExpress controls.
In my office, we bought the Infragistics ones for some UI purposes, but you don't need to.


> Does MM or Strate use the .NET grid object , dropdowns, edit boxes, etc, or do they have their own that I would be sub-classing?

Definetely, you will find all these as StrataFrame controls. You may subclass them if you want. And you can use any third-party controls adapted to be bindable as a SF control.


> Strataframe has a bulletin board style discussion forum format that I really like. I’ve used is on lots of other sites and it is a great user forum format that is open to everyone.

That's it, think you could download the trial and post your questions in the SF Forum. If you prefer it here, we can always help as well.

Cheers.