According to one embodiment, a system comprises a computing device including at least one processor. The system detects a request to execute an application within an environment provided by the computing device. A desired environment is determined for execution of the requested application, wherein execution of applications is distributed between a local environment and one or more remote virtual environments. The local environment and one or more remote virtual environments are provided by a plurality of computing devices. The system intercepts the detected request and directs the request to a computing device among the plurality of computing devices that provides the desired environment in order to execute the requested application within the desired environment. These embodiments may further include a method and computer-readable media encoded with software for distributing execution of applications in substantially the same manner described above.