We have created a beautifully designed .NET WPF desktop application. We are installing the application with InnoSetup , and if .NET 3.5 is not present, it automatically installs it. However, the package to download .NET 3.5 is huge and we found out that about 30% of users do not finish instalation due to this.
The obvious solution is to recode everything into .NET 1.1 with Windows Forms but its a major development which would take few weeks. Also, we would then face dilemma if to support both versions (and use innosetup to choose the right one) or just ditch WPF all together.
Is there any easy way how to convert WPF to Windows Forms? Or do we have any alternative options to consider?
Thank you!
Converting WPF to WinForms is not trivial, there is certainly no automated way, and if you want to go back to .net 1.1 as well you’ll lose a whole load of other features like generics etc, so it’s not just the UI you’ll be changing.
The best solution would be to target the .net client profile instead. It’s a much smaller download.
If you can wait a few weeks, the client profile in .net 4.0 has far better offline installation and platform support. See here and here.