The present invention discloses a 
system and a method for integrated on-demand delivery of 
operating system and applications, where 
operating system images are separate and distinct from application images. Integration of 
operating system streaming and application streaming services makes streaming delivery possible to a wide range of 
client devices, including those without any local 
disk space such as thin-clients and diskless workstations. In addition, by integrating the 
centralized management of operating 
system delivery and application delivery, the present invention provides a complete solution to 
server-centric application management, thereby further reducing the 
total cost of ownership of network-based computing approach. Implementing the operating 
management functions at the 
client machine level of specificity and application 
management functions at the user level of specificity combined with providing separate and distinct operating 
system images and application images provides an inherently canonical architecture that allows proper scaling and affords appropriate 
security management functions. The result is a complete, scalable, robust, and reliable 
server-centric application and operating system 
management system with a lower 
total cost of ownership than existing products.