Hi,

I need to ask some pre buy question but since there is no general SF topic area to post to I decided to post this here.

I’m fairly new to .NET and obviously new to SF so I need some insight and opinions on SF. I’ve looked at other frameworks like Java based (servoy) and .net based (Idea Blade and SF) but SF seems to have a lot to offer in their framework, Role-based Security and Database Deployment modules at a reasonable price.

I’m looking into reengineering a fairly complex somewhat commercial MS Access app that uses SQL 2000 as a backend. The idea is to bring the app to a more robust front-end and ideally make it into a Smart-Client software as a service (SaaS) model with a limited counterpart website.

So far I’m impresses with SF and especially with its smart-client demo’s performance using the ES. Keep in mind that I’m fairly new to all this so I know I’m biting more then I can chew.

So my questions are:

1. Is SF a good choice for this type of project?
2. How robust would SF and its ES in a Smart-Client SAAS scenario be?
3. How effective is the ES and SF BO on a website?
4. When will SF integrate with VS 2008 .NET 3.5 and how will LINQ and its OR/M affect SF future?

Thank you in advance for your answers or advise for that matter,

JC