
The ClickOnce model supports both installed applications (akin to conventional Windows applications with Start Menu integration) and online applications (browser-hosted applications that are not installed, only run and cached). ClickOnce employs Code Access Security (CAS) to prevent system functions being called by a ClickOnce application from the web, ensuring the security of data and the client system in general. This means one ClickOnce application is not able to "break" another. Each ClickOnce application is isolated from the others. Administrator privileges are not required to install these applications.

In addition, ClickOnce aims to solve three other problems with conventional deployment models: the difficulty in updating a deployed application, the impact of an application on the user's computer, and the need for administrator permissions to install applications.ĬlickOnce-deployed applications are considered "low impact", in that they are installed per user, not per machine.

The core principle of ClickOnce is to ease the deployment of Windows applications.
