Google has a page listing some details for webmasters about their new web browser. My favorite part is in regards to handling application shortcuts which I figured out from Gmail’s site. It’s a simple addition of “application-name” and “application-url” meta tags, along with a meta description and link to an icon file, which you probably already have on your site.
Application shortcuts are probably my favorite feature of Chrome, and the reason why I think that it is an important browser. These shortcuts will help users and businesses to change their mindset about software-as-a-service applications. They make web applications look like real software. We used to have a desktop icon for Eudora or Outlook Express. Now we have one for Gmail. In the future, I suspect we’ll see more people replacing their installations of Microsoft Office with a shortcut to Google Docs, Zoho, ThinkFree, or Live Workspace.
