WorkFlow Vs Dialog In MSCRM 2011

Workflows and Dialogs

• Workflows. The automated or asynchronous processes that may require user input to start them. Further, these processes do not require user input to run them to completion. These processes run in the background.
• Dialogs. The interactive or synchronous processes that require user input to start and run them to completion. When you start the dialog process, a wizard-like interface is presented to you so you can make appropriate selections to run the process. 

Workflows	Dialogs
Can be either started by a user or can be automated.	Must be started by a user.
Are asynchronous processes, and do not require user input to run to completion. These processes run in the background.	Are synchronous processes, and require user input to run to completion. When you run these processes, a wizard-like interface is presented to you so you can make appropriate selections to run the processes.
The entity that stores the details about a running workflow is AsyncOperation.	The entity that stores information generated by a running dialog is the ProcessSession (dialog session) entity.
Both Windows Workflow Foundation 4 and Windows Workflow Foundation 3.5 custom activities are supported.	Only Windows Workflow Foundation 4 custom activities are supported.
Triggers are supported for workflows. For a list of supported triggers, see Supported Types, Triggers, and Entities for Processes (Workflows and Dialogs).	Triggers are not supported for dialogs.
Workflows that are created or updated outside of Microsoft Dynamics CRM by creating or updating the underlying XAML file are supported in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For information about these custom XAML workflows, see Custom XAML Workflows for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.	Dialogs that are created or updated outside of Microsoft Dynamics CRM by creating or updating the underlying XAML file are not supported in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.