Rich client application delivery

The present invention provides a rich client application delivery ("RCAD") system comprising a server computer and a client computer each connected to a computer network. The server stores a target application image and executes a RCAD server application. The target application image comprises a collection of files necessary to execute a target application. The client computer has a processor capable of executing a client application. The client application is adapted to communicate with the RCAD server application through the computer network to retrieve portions of files in response to requests by the processor to read from or write to the portion of the file. The client application is also adapted to maintain a copy of the portion of the file in a memory associated with the client computer. Finally, the client application is adapted to retrieve the portion of the file stored in the memory in response to subsequent requests by the processor to read from or write to the portion of the file.