Google kills the Chrome app launcher on Windows, Mac, and Linux
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3047224/software/google-kills-the-chrome-app-launcher-on-windows-mac-and-linux.html
Googles attempted invasion of the Windows desktop is now officially over. The Chrome-maker recently announced that the Chrome app launcher will be removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux in July, though itll stick around in Chrome OS. Google says its dumping the app launcher in the name of streamlining the browser after discovering that most Chrome users prefer to launch their apps from within Chrome.
The app launcher was one of three Chrome browser features that appeared to be specifically designed to turn Chrome into a platform within a platform on Windows. In addition to the app launcherwhich sat in the taskbar and allowed users to fire up Chrome apps just like a normal desktop program, miming Windows Start menu functionalityGoogle killed Chromes notification center in October. That feature was replaced with native web push notifications, a standardized feature that sites can use across all browsers.
Beyond those two features, Google also created a modern UI version of the browser for Windows 8 that essentially put Chrome OS inside Windows. Microsofts decision to do away with Windows 8s ill-advised dual UI for a more traditional desktop in Windows 10 killed Googles attempt at Chrome OS for Windows.