>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>>it looks like I am about to get a job developing a new system to administer an Insurance Company's handling of Life Insurance. I am looking at using .Net for this system, but am unsure as to what specifics I should go with. I have used CSLA.NET before and liked it so will probably stick with that as my "business framework", SQL Server will be my data store (I might consider PostgreSQL or MySQL). The application does not need to be accessible over the internet, but I would like the possibility to be there. I am leaning towards using Silverlight (CSLA.Net for Silverlight), but I am unsure of the advantages/disadvantages of going this route. Maybe Silverlight is too young/new? Should I go with ASP.NET instead?
>>>>
>>>>Stick to ASP.NET for a line of business application if you want it accessable over the internet. You have a mature framework, tools, controls, and development environment.
>>>
>>>
>>>Without knowing too much about it, MS (and others) says that Silverlight 3 is "ready for business". Also check out the DevForce Silverlight framework from Ideablade. It looks promising.
>>
>>I've come to the conclusion that Most of Microsoft's marketing hype is just that - hype. Look under the hood and a lot of parts are missing or invalid.
>>
>>I've played with silverlight in Visual Studio and Expression (and both if you want good development environment and some sort of preview) and find development jumps backward a lot. You wind up with nice output, but building the application is a pain (a la WPF).
>>
>>If I had a client who really needed pretty/flashy output, I'd go with it, but most LOB apps don't require it.
>
>I hear ya, and I'm not a big fan of MS (since they killed the Fox), but, Silverlight 1/2 was all about the pretty/flashy stuff - nothing that a typical/real business app would care much about. Silverlight 3, however, is supposed to be all about data. FWIW, I laughed at a video that I saw from MIX09 where the presenter said something to the effect that his session was not going to have any spinning videos and the audience applauded. The rest of the presentation actually looked good (the bits that I could understand) for a LOB app.

Silverlight 3 is a big step forward, but it is still a pain to develop in IMO. I like a visual development environment, and with silverlight you might just as well use a text editor from what I've seen. Lots of capabilities but longer development times don't go well with me.