Windows App Versus ASP Web App

[bugaboosun]

At my company we are moving from VB6 to VB.NET 2003. We are currently debating whether to deploy apps on the web or as windows applications. Can anyone point me to some analysis of both platforms, the advantages and disadvantages of each. My goal is to make some corporate wide standards to guide our decisions in the future.

For example, how much more work does it take to code, deploy and maintain a web app versus a windows app?

Someone has to have studied this and published it, don't you think?

Thanks.

[jmcilhinney]

The main advantage of Web apps comes down to deployment. Stick the latest version of your app on your Web server and everyone's using it. ClickOnce deployment has now brought Windows apps closer to Web apps in this regard. The main advantage of Windows apps comes down to functionality. There are some things that are more difficult to do from within a browser and its limited access model. ASP.NET 2.0 brings Web apps closer to Windows apps in this regard. This is coming from someone who has next to no experience with creating Web apps. More than that I can't really give you, although if you want to do this with Microsoft development tools then I'd suggest searching MSDN as a first step.

[mendhak]

Business and enterprise applications, which are more logic than they are graphics should (highly reccommended) be created as ASP.NET Web applications. This is because the code used, VB.NET/C#, can accomplish all the logical operations and information processing that is required by the application. With windows applications, you have the potential headache of a GUI that a user has to install, among a host of other potential issues.

With web apps, all you need is a browser.

If, however, you are creating an application that involves a rich user experience, such as the ability to drag and drop items, or that involves graphics, or manipulating the WIndows environment, then windows apps are the way to go.