Silverlight equivalent to signed Java Applet?

Question

Is there a Silverlight equivalent to signed applets in Java?

I'm basically trying to host what would traditionally be a desktop application in a browser*, and I'd rather do it all in a single package (the Silverlight end) rather than delegate privileged actions to an outside (locally running) process. This would require some way of breaking out of Silverlight's sandbox though; the only equivalent I'm aware of are Java's signed applets, and I can't find anything similar.

_{*There are good usability reasons for this, technically it does complicate things}

Answer 1

If you need full access to local resources, Silverlight isn't going to get you there. You could use XBAPs to run in-browser on the "big" CLR, but even there, the security model is painful (you have to run a local install to the GAC to get full trust). You might want to have a look at the forthcoming .NET 4.0 as well- they've redone some of the security layer to simplify things, though I don't know if/how it affects XBAPs. There's a great post about FullTrust XBAPs in .NET 3.5 here.

Answer 2

You can still create ActiveX controls with C#/.Net ¹.

¹ _{I'm not saying this is a great idea, I'm just saying it can be done. Also experimenting with footnotes for the first time.}

Answer 3

If you are not constrained to .net, you can also use adobe air.

---

If constrained to .net and based on access to resources beyond silverlight/xabp reach, you could:

• host a .net control in the browser ... explicitely allowing access to the resource you need on the client side ... I don't recall the exacts of this, but our team did once this for an intranet resource that needed to access of some local resources.
• do a non browser desktop client app instead