Introduction
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week, you probably know that Google shipped the first beta-version of it's new browser, named "Google Chrome". I am not planning to start yet another debate here about why I think Google decided at this point that it needed to get in the Web browser business. You can read plenty of interesting comments on various blog sites, for example Paul Thurrot, from the Windows Supersite had some very interesting feedback on the subject in his Windows Weekly Podcast with Leo Laporte.
Most of the features introduced by Chrome have an equivalent in Microsoft's upcoming IE 8 browser (beta 2 just shipped a couple of weeks ago). I do want to highlight one interesting feature of Chrome and that is the ability to create application shortcuts.
What is a Chrome Application Shortcut?
A Chrome Application Shortcut is basically a quick, streamlined way to access a Web Application's functionality in it's own window. You can create a shortcut on either the desktop, the "Start bar", or the "Quick Launch" toolbar. Once the short cut is created, you can simply double-click the shortcut to launch the application in it's own window. Using shortcuts is a nice alternative to launching the full browser window, and entering the URL (either manually or through a "favorites" entry).
Also, if you use Google Gears, you optionally have the ability to access the application's functionality if offline mode (if so desired).
Walkthrough
To create a shortcut, first navigate to the URL of the Web Application. Next, click the Page menu next to the address bar, and select the "Create application shortcuts.." menu item, as is shown below:
In the Google Gears dialog box that comes up, you can select the location(s) for your shortcut. So in my case, I elected to create a shortcut to Gmail, and I opted to have a shortcut on both my desktop and the "Quick Launch" bar.
Note that Chrome will use the appropriate icon for your shortcut.
After creating your shortcut, I can simply double-click the shortcut, to open the selected Web Application as show below:
The application opens up in its own Chrome window, without any toolbar or address bar clutter, as shown below:
