XAML Browser Applications

Last updated

XBAP
Filename extension
.xbap
Internet media type
application/x-ms-xbap
Type of format Package management system, file archive
Container for Software package
Extended from ZIP

XAML Browser Applications (XBAP, pronounced "ex-bap") are Windows Presentation Foundation (.xbap) applications that are hosted and run inside a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. Hosted applications run in a partial trust sandbox environment and are not given full access to the computer's resources like opening a new network connection or saving a file to the computer disk and not all WPF functionality is available. The hosted environment is intended to protect the computer from malicious applications; however it can also run in full trust mode by the client changing the permission. Starting an XBAP from an HTML page is seamless (with no security or installation prompt). Although one perceives the application running in the browser, it actually runs in an out-of-process executable (PresentationHost.exe) managed by a virtual machine. In the initial release of .NET Framework 3.0, XBAPs only ran in Internet Explorer. With the release of .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which includes an XBAP extension, they also run in Mozilla Firefox. [1]

Contents

XBAP limitations

XBAP applications have certain restrictions on what .NET features they can use. Since they run in partial trust, they are restricted to the same set of permission granted to any InternetZone application. Nearly all standard WPF functionality, however, around 99%, is available to an XBAP application. Therefore, most of the WPF UI features are available. [2]

Starting in February 2009, XBAP applications no longer function when run from the Internet. [3] Attempting to run the XBAP will cause the browser to present a generic error message. [4] An option exists in Internet Explorer 9 that can be used to allow the applications to run, [5] but this must be done with care as it increases the potential attack surface - and there have been security vulnerabilities in XBAP. [6]

Permitted

Not permitted

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer</span> Web browser series by Microsoft

Internet Explorer is a retired series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were used in the Windows line of operating systems. While IE has been discontinued on most Windows editions, it remains supported on certain editions of Windows, such as Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC. Starting in 1995, it was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads or in-service packs and included in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows. Microsoft spent over US$100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people involved in the project by 1999. New feature development for the browser was discontinued in 2016 and ended support on June 15, 2022 for Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel (SAC), in favor of its successor, Microsoft Edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ActiveX</span> Software framework by Microsoft introduced in 1996

ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide Web. Microsoft introduced ActiveX in 1996. In principle, ActiveX is not dependent on Microsoft Windows operating systems, but in practice, most ActiveX controls only run on Windows. Most also require the client to be running on an x86-based computer because ActiveX controls contain compiled code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browser wars</span> Competition between web browsing applications for share of worldwide usage

A browser war is a competition for dominance in the usage share of web browsers. The "first browser war," (1995–2001) pitted Microsoft's Internet Explorer against Netscape's Navigator. Browser wars continued with the decline of Internet Explorer's market share and the popularity of other browsers including Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Opera.

Extensible Application Markup Language is a declarative XML-based language developed by Microsoft for initializing structured values and objects. It is available under Microsoft's Open Specification Promise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Forms</span> Graphical user interface software library

Windows Forms (WinForms) is a free and open-source graphical (GUI) class library included as a part of Microsoft .NET, .NET Framework or Mono, providing a platform to write client applications for desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs. While it is seen as a replacement for the earlier and more complex C++ based Microsoft Foundation Class Library, it does not offer a comparable paradigm and only acts as a platform for the user interface tier in a multi-tier solution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 7</span> Web browser for Windows

Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is a web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on October 18, 2006, as the seventh version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer 7 is part of a long line of versions of Internet Explorer and was the first major update to the browser since 2001. It was the default browser in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, as well as Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, and can replace Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, but unlike version 6, this version does not support Windows 2000, Windows ME, or earlier versions of Windows. It also does not support Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 or later Windows Versions.

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a free and open-source graphical subsystem originally developed by Microsoft for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0 in 2006. WPF uses DirectX and attempts to provide a consistent programming model for building applications. It separates the user interface from business logic, and resembles similar XML-oriented object models, such as those implemented in XUL and SVG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 6</span> Web browser for Windows released in 2001

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a graphical web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. Released on August 24, 2001, it is the sixth, and by now discontinued, version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 5. It was the default browser in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and can replace previous versions of Internet Explorer on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows ME but unlike version 5, this version does not support Windows 95 or earlier versions. IE6 SP2+ and IE7 were only included in or available (IE7) for Windows XP SP2+.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ClickOnce</span>

ClickOnce is a component of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and later, and supports deploying applications made with Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation. It is similar to Java Web Start for the Java Platform or Zero Install for Linux.

QF-Test from Quality First Software is a cross-platform software tool for automated testing of programs via the graphical user interface. The program is specialized on cross-browser test automation of static and dynamic web-based applications. Version 4.1 added support for MacOS and the Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge browsers via the Selenium WebDriver. RESTful web service testing. From version 5.0, Windows applications can also be tested and modern C++ applications. Version 5.3 added support for the Chrome DevTools protocol, which allows browsers to be controlled using CDP drivers.

An HTML Application (HTA) is a Microsoft Windows program whose source code consists of HTML, Dynamic HTML, and one or more scripting languages supported by Internet Explorer, such as VBScript or JScript. The HTML is used to generate the user interface, and the scripting language is used for the program logic. An HTA executes without the constraints of the internet browser security model; in fact, it executes as a "fully trusted" application.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Silverlight</span> Application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications

Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich internet applications, similar to Adobe's runtime, Adobe Flash. While early versions of Silverlight focused on streaming media, later versions supported multimedia, graphics, and animation, and gave support to developers for CLI languages and development tools. Silverlight was one of the two application development platforms for Windows Phone, but web pages using Silverlight did not run on the Windows Phone or Windows Mobile versions of Internet Explorer, as there was no Silverlight plugin for Internet Explorer on those platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 8</span> Web browser for Windows released in 2009

Windows Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is the eighth and, by now, discontinued version of the Internet Explorer web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 19, 2009, as the successor to Internet Explorer 7. It was the default browser in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 9</span> Web browser for Windows released in 2011

Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 is the ninth version of the Internet Explorer web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 14, 2011, as the ninth version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 as a major out-of-band version that was not tied to the release schedule of any particular version of Windows, unlike previous versions. It is the first version of Internet Explorer not to be bundled with a Windows operating system, although some OEMs have installed it with Windows 7 on their PCs. Internet Explorer 9 is the last version that is called Windows Internet Explorer. The software was rebranded simply as Internet Explorer starting in 2012 with the release of Internet Explorer 10.

Turbo is a set of software products and services developed by the Code Systems Corporation for application virtualization, portable application creation, and digital distribution. Code Systems Corporation is an American corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and is best known for its Turbo products that include Browser Sandbox, Turbo Studio, TurboServer, and Turbo.

This is the version history of Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich web applications that was actively developed and marketed by Microsoft from 2007 to 2012. This is a technical overview of the platform's history.

Windows UI Library is a user interface API that is part of the Windows Runtime programming model that forms the backbone of Universal Windows Platform apps for the Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows Phone 8.1 operating systems. It enables declaring user interfaces using Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) technology.

DotNetBrowser is a proprietary .NET library that provides a Chromium-based engine which can be used to load and display web pages. It is developed and supported by TeamDev since 2015.

References

  1. "What is XBAP?". XBap.org. p. Home page. Retrieved February 16, 2011. XBAP (XAML Browser Application) is a new Windows technology used for creating Rich Internet Applications with a file extension .xbap to be run inside the Internet Explorer. They are run within a security sandbox to prevent untrusted applications from controlling local system resources.
  2. "WPF Partial Trust Security". MSDN . Retrieved February 16, 2011. For XBAP applications, code that exceeds the default permission set will have different behavior depending on the security zone. In some cases, the user will receive a warning when they attempt to install it. The user can choose to continue or cancel the installation. The following table describes the behavior of the application for each security zone and what you have to do for the application to receive full trust.
  3. "IE9 RC Minor Changes List". February 11, 2011.
  4. "IE9 – XBAPs Disabled in the Internet Zone". March 9, 2011.
  5. "XBAP - This application type has been disabled". Stack Overflow.
  6. BetaFred (March 2023). "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-004 - Important". technet.microsoft.com.