Google has quietly commenced its Chrome App Launcher for Windows. Initially built for Chrome OS in an attempt to imitate some of the taskbar or dock functionality in conventional desktop operating systems, the software acts as a center for all your Chrome applications, permitting users to launch them swiftly from the desktop.

The release covers both Windows 7 and 8 operating systems, though support for OS X is in the process. The launcher will be on your desktop taskbar and offer a quick way to access the Chrome Store, and any applications that work with Google's browser. It also lets you handle certain download, language, network, and privacy settings, and supports levering between multiple Google accounts -- so when you are signed in, Gmail will directly load your inbox, thus, showing your saved documents and files, and so on.

At first glimpse, the App Launcher is nothing more than a group of links that load on your browser. But with the introduction of desktop notifications and packaged apps, Google is gradually building something that could be seen as a more grave threat to customary desktop platforms.

If packed apps are uncommon to you, they are just apps written in typical web languages, but runs outside the browser as self-contained software that can work offline and interface with hardware or network devices. Along with desktop notifications, they act and look like any other normal application, except that they are cross-platform compatible and always up to date. Pocket and Wunderlist are two high-end examples during these days.

If packaged apps truly catch on with developers, Google’s App Launcher will go a lengthy way slackening the transition from Windows or Mac apps to web-based Chrome apps, and perhaps compelling some users that it’s promising to live with a web-centric platform akin to Chrome OS. Time will tell if the approach plays out.

The Chrome App Launcher for Windows can be download from the Chrome Web Store.