Further blurring the line between desktop computers, laptops and mobile gadgets, Google has stuffed the app launcher from its Chromebook into its desktop Chrome web browser. Chrome app launcher Ta-da. That's it. The program launcher, basically a little window to run packaged JavaScript apps within the browser, looks just …

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Thursday 21st February 2013 16:20 GMT Silverburn

This...actually has promise. From my lowly "user" perspective.

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Thursday 21st February 2013 16:31 GMT h3

I totally don't want this. Chrome is acting more and more malware like all the time.

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1. Thursday 21st February 2013 16:38 GMT Graham Dawson
  
  We can't post images directly, but this one expresses my thoughts quite nicely.
  
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  1. Friday 22nd February 2013 12:33 GMT hplasm
    
    Re:This one
    
    You think you are Jackie Chan?
    
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2. Thursday 21st February 2013 16:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  How is malware to have a user interface for running the applications that you told chrome to install locally?
  
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  1. Thursday 21st February 2013 17:14 GMT h3
    
    Won't be long before they are popping up ad's in the taskbar.
    
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    1. Friday 22nd February 2013 10:33 GMT Craigness
      
      Apo'strophe
      
      The plural of ad is ads.
      
      2 1
3. Thursday 21st February 2013 18:03 GMT Day
  
  I would never use software that acted even a little bit like malware. Why do you use Chrome?
  
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Thursday 21st February 2013 17:07 GMT 1Rafayal

Eadon, can you please confirm that this is an EPIC WINDOWS FAIL or not.

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1. Thursday 21st February 2013 18:56 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Well, seeing it doesn't run on Linux or Macs...
  
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  1. Thursday 21st February 2013 20:19 GMT davidp231
    
    Yet...
    
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Thursday 21st February 2013 20:43 GMT Dig

deja vu

Microsoft had it right at windows 3.1 it seems with the programming manager

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1. Friday 22nd February 2013 10:34 GMT Craigness
  
  Re: deja vu
  
  Apple invented the grid of icons in 2007. Program Manager did not exist.
  
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2. Friday 22nd February 2013 13:55 GMT Mark .
  
  Re: deja vu
  
  I was going to say - "looks just like a phone home screen"? - looks just like any computer screen back before the introduction of things like start menus... My Amiga had a grid of coloured icons in 1985 :)
  
  (Also still looks like most people's Windows desktops.)
  
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Friday 22nd February 2013 14:03 GMT Mark .

ChromeOS looks more like a "real" OS

Despite being "just a browser", if I can launch applications directly, if I can install them and run them offline, that pretty much makes it as useful an OS for most people - who cares if behind the scenes it's mostly done in HTML5. And with Google Native Client, it's possible to write applications in languages like C++ (with a HTML5 front end, similar to how Android does native languages with Java). You don't even need a Chromebook - ChromiumOS is Free.

From a development point of view, using HTML5 (with Native Client if you'd rather stick with C++) looks an increasingly useful way to write portable code across Windows, OS X, Linux and ChromeOS. This new launcher is a useful step to make such applications appear as "installed" applications that run offline, rather than only running in a web browser (although the option to run in a web page is still a useful ability).

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