Q2.2 - Loose XAML vs. XBAP vs. ClickOnce

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What are the various ways to deploy WPF content over the Web?

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There are 3 ways to deploy WPF content and applications over the Web:

Loose XAML
A XAML file can be opened directly by Internet Explorer, which then renders its content. With this approach, you cannot have any code-behind file. The root element cannot be Window; it must be a panel or Page.

Browser-hosted application (XBAP)
An application is compiled to a file with the XBAP extension, which is a deployment manifest used by the ClickOnce engine to download the application and deploy it in the browser.

This kind of application runs in a sandbox with the Internet Zone permissions, which means that the application is limited in what it can do. For example, it cannot access the file system or registry, cannot create Windows (e.g., dialog boxes), etc.

But since they run with limited permissions, there is no authorization dialog box shown to the user: as soon as a user clicks on an XBAP link, the application is downloaded and executed automatically. Wpfwiki Air Jordan

Finally, although it is cached in the ClickOnce application cache, a browser-hosted application is not permanently installed on the user's machine. It does not appear in the Start Menu or in Add or Remove Programs. Data which needs to persist across different runs of the application should be saved to the Isolated Storage.

Installed Applications (ClickOnce or MSI)
Finally, an application can be compiled to an EXE and installed locally on a user's machine either via ClickOnce or Windows Installer.

This kind of application is hosted in a Window, has full access to system resources, and appears in the Start Menu and in Add or Remove Programs.

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Q2.2 - Loose XAML vs. XBAP vs. ClickOnce

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