.NET Framework Makes Thick Clients More Attractive

Windows Forms, the new user interface (UI) class library included in the .NET Framework, allows developers who have previously abandoned thick-client development, due to difficulties in deployment and maintenance, to make client development decisions on a case-by-case basis. By providing a common set of UI components for all .NET developer tools, Windows Forms makes the best aspect of Visual Basic (VB)-its ease of UI development-available to the entire .NET platform and at the same time addresses some of these longstanding deployment and maintenance problems. However, some limitations remain, including a lack of support for platforms other than Windows.

Although the thick-client architecture (in which application-specific code runs on and processes data on the client, rather than merely rendering data which has been processed by a server) was once the norm, the Internet has popularized the thin-client model, in which a server application is accessed through a standard Web browser and the bulk of the processing takes place on the server. Because Microsoft derives a significant portion of its revenue from selling the desktop operating systems on which thick clients run, it has a vested interest in making thick clients as attractive as possible. This has forced the company to address some of the longstanding deficiencies of its thick-client architecture, and Windows Forms represents a significant step in that direction.