Implementing a Powerpoint like application in the browser - Javascript, Silverlight, or something else?

Question

I need to implement a moderately simple Powerpoint-like tool for the web. The user should be able to draw text boxes on a grid, drag & drop or resize them and save the result. Several options for formatting the text should be available (font, size, allignment, etc.). Also, the application should have an undo function (crl+z) to undo recent actions.

All the saved templates can be edited, deleted and printed. Additionaly, the user should be able to drag predefined textfields and images to the grid.

On the server side, I need to use Microsoft Technology. My first idea was to do all the functionality in javascript and use ASP.NET MVC server side. But as more and more requirements were assembled, the idea doesn't sound as good anymore.

My question is: What technology would you choose? Would Silverlight be the way to go? Or are there any Javascript libraries or open source projects I could use?

Any suggestion is appreciated!

Cheers, Chris

EDIT: The web application is going to be accessed exclusively via thin clients with IE pre-installed. So compatibility with mobile phones or tablets won't be necessary.

Answer 1

Silverlight is DEFINITELY the way to go especially considering that you are 100% guaranteed that all of your users will have it installed. Moreover, you'll have access to the .net framework which will significantly improve the coding experience.

However, that being said, this is not going to be a small task. You are essentially trying to build a mini-PowerPoint creator with quite a bit of functionality. There is going to be quite a bit of work involved at every step so plan your schedule accordingly and leave a lot of extra time for tweaking at the end.