Difference between Windows and Web Application

Windows Application
Windows Application is a user build application that can run on a Windows platform. The windows application has a graphical user interface that is provided by Windows Forms. Windows forms provide a variety of controls including Button, TextBox, Radio Button, CheckBox, and other data and connection controls. You can easily design a web application using an IDE Microsoft Visual Studio using a variety of languages including C#, Visual Basic, C++, J# and many more.

As shown above, the list of templates available under Windows application. The snapshot is taken from visual studio 2008.

Web Application
It is a type of application that runs on a browser using a Web server configured with Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). In .NET, all web applications are built around ASP.NET, which is nothing but a part of .NET platform and includes design-time objects and controls and a run-time execution context. ASP.NET helps in building wide variety of web application from a traditional website that serves HTML pages to a high-end business application that runs on Internet.

As shown above, the list of templates available under web application. The snapshot is taken from visual studio 2008.

Difference between Windows Application and Web Application

1. The first and the foremost difference between Windows and Web Application, Windows application gets installed on a Windows based operating system whereas the web application is installed on a web server.
2. Windows application can only be accessed from a system in which it is installed. A web application can be accessed from any system through internet.
3. You need an Internet Information Services (IIS) server to run the web application. Windows application can directly be executed on a windows operating system.
4. Windows applications can only be run on a windows platform. Web Application can run on a variety of platform including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, Android, etc.
5. If designed for a 64-bit operating system, a Windows application won’t work on the 16-bit system. Web application is independent of the type of system.