ActiveX cab alternative

Question

I need an alternative to ActiveX Controls to run code on the client-side. I need a solution to download a file and execute it's binary code. But the only solution I found was an ActiveX Cab Control. Basically what this control is going to do is communicate with mainframes through sockets. Maybe I can do this with Silverlight, but I don't know if it's the best solution. I know I could use a server, but since I'm expecting a lot of users and at least 5 simultaneous connections per user I don't want to overload my server. I don't know if there is a newer .cab on .Net Framework but I searched a lot and I wasn't able to find it.

ActiveX is not unacceptable but I want to know if there a better solutions out there. I think that ActiveX is a very old solution to this kind of problem since I'm using .Net Framework 3.5. It just feels like using VB6 solution to this problem. And also is very tricky to manage ActiveX controls deployment.

Answer 1

The only component option available to you in Internet Explorer is an ActiveX component. Of course if you know that an existing ActiveX implemented host such as Silverlight or Flash is already, or quite likely to be, installed on the client then they may be an option.

Silverlight will allow you write code in a variety of .NET languages and communicate with a server over Sockets with the limitation that you can only access ports 4502-4534.

Other browsers such as Firefox provide other options for creating extensions that do not involve cabs.