• They support work offline – smart clients can work with data even when they are not connected to the Internet (which distinguishes them from browser-based applications, which do not work when the device is not connected to the Internet);
• Smart client applications have the ability to be deployed and updated in real time over the network from a centralized server;
• Smart client applications support multiple platforms and languages because they are built on Web services;
• Smart client applications can run on almost any device that has Internet connectivity, including desktops, workstations, notebooks, tablet PCs, PDAs, and mobile phones.

Deploy and Update Your Smart Client Projects Using a Central Server
This article discusses using ClickOnce to deploy real apps, versioning benefits and programmatic and automatic updating.

Smart Client Application Model and the .NET Framework 1.1
This white paper provides an overview of the .NET Framework smart client application model, explaining how it works from a high-level perspective, and elaborating on how this architecture compares with the browser-based model.

Smart Clients for Smart Users
What is a smart client anyway? And what makes it so smart?