42. The method of claim 41 further comprising: accessing the second manifest after locating the first initial file identifier in the first; locating the second initial file identifier in the second manifest; based on the located second initial file identifier, accessing the instructions for executing the application from the second initial file; processing the accessed instructions from the second initial file; and executing the application based on the processed instructions from the second initial file.
41. A method for executing an application, the method comprising: loading, within a processing environment on a local client computer, a first package that includes a first manifest and a first archive of files, wherein: the first manifest includes a first initial file identifier that identifies a particular file from within the first archive of files as a first initial file that is to be processed before other files in the first archive of files when the application is executed, and the first archive of files includes: the first initial file, the first initial file including instructions for initiating execution of the application, the first initial file being a markup language file, other files needed to execute the application, and a second package, the second package including: a second manifest that includes a second initial file identifier that identifies a particular file from within a second archive of files as a second initial file that is to be processed before other files in the second archive of files when the application is executed, and the second archive of files that includes: the second initial file, the second initial file including instructions for executing the application, the second initial file being a markup language file, and additional files needed to execute the application; in response to loading the first package within the processing environment, automatically access the first manifest; locating the first initial file identifier in the first manifest; based on the located first initial file identifier, accessing the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the first initial file; processing the accessed instructions from the first initial file; and automatically initiating execution of the application based on the processed instructions from the first initial file.