When I created my first application using Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2(take a look to my post on Linq to XML), I observed a new application template/type called WPF Browser Application.  

So, what is a WPF Browser Application?

WPF Browser Application is the name used in Visual Studio 2008 for XBAP (XAML Browser Application). XAML Browser Application were introduced in .NET Framework 3.0 for creating Rich Internet Applications.

Here is the definition of a XBAP from MSDN:

XAML browser applications (XBAPs) are intended to combine the best features of Web applications and rich-client applications. As with a Web application, XAML browser applications (XBAPs) can be deployed from a server to a system with a single click. The application then runs in the browser without any interruptions beyond the time needed to download the application. However, unlike the relatively limited graphics and media capabilities of HTML-based applications, XAML browser applications (XBAPs) have access to the rich features of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) runtime.

The idea is that it is possible to create a web-like application with the some advantages, richness and code of a WPF standalone application. Developing a WPF Browser Application is a matter of standard WPF programming, but while windows applications are normally compiled to an .exe file, browser applications are compiled to an extension .xbap and can be run inside Internet Explorer.

More about WPF Browser Applications(XBAP) you can find here.

In my next posts I will show how to create and deploy a WPF Browser Application.