System and method for installing a software application in a non-impactfull manner

摘要

Described is a mechanism for enabling installable software applications from a remote location without impacting already-installed software applications. The invention provides a mechanism for installing applications that include completely self-describing components. Each component of an application is then identified in an application manifest, which is stored in conjunction with the application. The application manifest also includes information describing the various dependencies of each component of the application. A remote user interested in the application may download the application, as described by the application manifest, to a local storage location. Any shared components of the application are also shared, except that any existing applications that may have depended on a previous version of the shared components continue to depend on the previous version. Different versions of an application are stored locally side-by-side.