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Regardless of whether you are a seasoned IT professional or just a mere web surfer, you’ve probably tried to do some sort of comparison between desktop and web applications. Simply speaking, a desktop application is a computer program that runs locally on a computer device, such as desktop or laptop computer, in contrast to a web application, which is delivered to a local device over the Internet from a remote server. Different user environments can impact whether a desktop or a web application is the best solution for your needs.

A Brief Summary of Application Evolution

Computers and software have come a long way since the first digital computers (ABC and ENIAC) were created, back around the start of WWII. To save my readers some time, I will jump forward to more recent times – August 12th 1981, when IBM introduced a PC hardware platform. IBM PCs used a text mode, command-line style operating system known as MS-DOS (which stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System), which eventually was replaced with the graphical Microsoft Windows OS in the 1990s. Then, the World Wide Web (WWW) took off in 1991 and the Mosaic web browser application was announced in 1993. These changes affected our world a great deal.

Although early applications were developed to be run from mainframe computers and accessed via low-tech terminal devices, the increased power and availability of (relatively) powerful desktop computers ushered in an era of standalone desktop applications that were run locally on the PC. Client-server model applications emerged that replaced the mainframe with a server, and allowed the remote client software to assume responsibility for some of the processing tasks. Hardware specifications and broadband speeds continued to improve constantly, which led to corresponding improvements in the quality and quantity of WWW content. Websites became more interactive with the increase of multimedia content and expanded their functionality beyond static web pages. As browsers and development platforms evolved, and more and more people began to use the internet and email, more businesses established their presence in the online world. These businesses leveraged the emerging interactive capabilities of the web to introduce applications that were served directly to a web browser, and these web applications became very popular.

Differences Between Desktop and Web Applications

Desktop applications have traditionally been limited by the hardware on which they are run. They must be developed for and installed on a particular operating system, and may have strict hardware requirements that must be met to ensure that they function correctly. Updates to the applications must be applied by the user directly to their installation, and may require hardware upgrades or other changes in order to work. This hardware dependence, as well as the legacy of mainframe terminal applications, has typically limited the level of complexity in user interfaces for desktop applications.

In some ways, web applications are more reminiscent of the original mainframe applications, or the later client-server model that were common for early desktop business applications. The user accesses the application using the web browser (in effect a stand-in for a client), and works with resources available over the internet, including storage and CPU processing power. This approach allows for “thin clients” (machines with limited hardware capabilities) to provide access to complex applications delivered from a centralized infrastructure. Additionally, the use of existing web browsers and their multimedia capabilities has allowed developers to create more interactive, media-rich user interfaces. Some of these capabilities have been reintroduced to desktop applications as well, but they have been largely driven by the ubiquity of the web and the way in which users have been accustomed to interacting with their computers.

Puffin Browser is a superb mobile browser that not only excels at loading desktop sites automatically, but also provides an insanely useful feature when it comes to navigating them. On the desktop: Brave uses the same browser engine as Chrome, meaning it has the same security-holes as Chrome. Chrome is a big target for hackers (being the most popular browser in the world), and a webpage that will hack Chrome may also hack Brave. However, Brave has security features that Chrome doesn't (such as a built-in adblocker). Google Chrome is a fast, free web browser. Before you download, you can check if Chrome supports your operating system and you have all the other system requirements. Drag Chrome to a place on your computer where you can make edits, like your desktop. In the sidebar, to the right of Google Chrome, click Eject. The Brave browser is a fast, private and secure web browser for PC, Mac and mobile. Download now to enjoy a faster ad-free browsing experience that saves data and battery life by blocking tracking software.

While both desktop and web applications have their pros and cons, they are ultimately just the tools that people use to help them solve problems. For instance, you can work with electronic spreadsheets on your laptop using the Microsoft Excel desktop application or a web application like Google Docs. Both of them allow for basic spreadsheet editing, but the Google option requires a live Internet connection to work. To address this shortcoming, some web applications have developed offline capabilities that allow you to start work online and then continue later even if you are disconnected from the internet. Some desktop applications also make use of technologies that were originally created to build web applications. For example, software developers can use HTML and JavaScript to develop desktop applications as well as web applications. This gives us an example of how the desktop and web applications may borrow each other’s features.

As you can see, each type of application has its own benefits and weaknesses and can be utilized best within its own niche. I believe that both desktop and web applications will continue to coexist for a long time, or at least until the Internet becomes omnipotent and all computers become thin terminals that connect users to their respective digital environments in the global cloud.

If you want a quick and easy way to access your favorite websites, you can create a desktop shortcut that opens any page instantly. Then you can even add a website shortcut to your Start Menu and Taskbar on a Windows 10 computer or your Launchpad and Dock on a Mac. Here’s how to create a desktop shortcut to a website using Google Chrome and Safari.

How to Create a Desktop Shortcut to a Website Using Chrome

To create a desktop shortcut to a website using Google Chrome, go to a website and click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of your browser window. Then go to More tools > Create shortcut. Finally, name your shortcut and click Create.

  1. Open the Chrome web browser. You can do this on a Mac or Windows 10 computer.
  2. Then go to the website you want to create a desktop shortcut for. This can be any website you want. However, if you choose a website that requires you to sign in, the shortcut will only take you to the login page once you have been signed out.
  3. Next, click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of the window.
  4. Then hover your mouse over More toolsand click Create shortcut.
  5. Next, enter a name for your shortcut and click Create. You can also check the Open as window box to have the website open in its own browser window. If you don’t check this box, your websites will open in a new tab of your existing browser window. This might cause problems if your browser is set to open with lots of tabs.
  6. Finally, you will see your shortcut on the desktop. With this method, you will create a desktop shortcut that has the icon of the website. Double-clicking this shortcut icon will open the website in the Chrome browser.

Note: If you are using a Mac, you will see a Finder window pop up after you click Create. All you have to do is drag the shortcut from that Chrome Apps folder to your desktop.

Once you have created a desktop shortcut on a Windows 10 computer, you will see it in under your Recently Added apps and in the Chrome Apps folder in your Start menu. You can then right-click the icon to add it to your Taskbar or your Start menu.

Once you create the shortcut on a Mac, you will see it in your Launchpad. You can also drag the desktop shortcut onto your Dock to access it faster.

Note: Your website shortcut will only open in the browser that you used to create it. If you want to know how to change your default browser on a Windows 10 or Mac computer, check out our step-by-step guide here

If you’re on a Mac, you can also create a desktop shortcut for a website using the Safari web browser. However, this method will be a bit more complicated if you want a nice-looking shortcut name and icon.

How to Create a Desktop Shortcut to a Website Using Safari

To create a desktop shortcut for a website using Safari, open a browser window and navigate to a website. Then select the URL in the address bar and drag it to your desktop. If you want a clean-looking shortcut, you’ll have to change the name and icon yourself.

  1. Open the Safari web browser. You want to resize your browser so you can see your desktop.
  2. Then go to the website you want to create a desktop shortcut for.
  3. Next, select the URL in the address bar.
  4. Then drag the URL to your desktop to create the shortcut. You can also drag the icon that is to the left of the URL.
Desktop Web Browser

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Using this method will give you a shortcut with a long name and a generic icon. If you want to change the name and icon,click on your new shortcut and hit the Command + I keys on your keyboard. (You can also right-click the shortcut and select Get Info.) Then click the arrow next to Name & Extension and enter a new name in the text box.

Note: You will have to keep the “.webloc” extension in order for the shortcut to work. If you don’t want to see the extension, left-click the desktop and hit the Command + Coma keys on your keyboard at the same time. (You can also open Finder and click Finder > Preferences from the Apple Menu Bar.) Then select the Advanced tab in the pop-up window and un-check the box next to Show all filename extensions.

Then you can use an image online to replace the shortcut icon. Simply search for the logo of the site you are creating a shortcut for. If you want it to look clean, it is best to use a PNG file, so be sure to include that in your search. Then right-click the image you want and select Save Image As.

Then open the saved image using the Preview app and select the entire image by left-clicking and dragging a box around the image. (You can also hit the Command + A keys on your keyboard.) Next, copy the image by hitting the Command + C keys on your keyboard. Then click the icon at the top of the “get info” window you opened earlier and hit the Command + V keys to paste the image.

Finally, you can drag your icon to the Dock, but only on the side of the divider line that separates your apps from your folders and the Recycle Bin.

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If you want to know how to change the default search engine of your browser, check out our step-by-step guide here.

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