1. A computer-implemented system comprising: at least one processor coupled to a memory; a web-based computer application executing at a server computer system, the web-based computer application configured to switch between generating output to be rendered by a web browser application executing at a client computer system and generating output in a format suitable for use by a widget engine provided at the client computer system; a widgetizer trigger, implemented as a software module, using the at least one processor, to receive at the server computer system, from a web browser application running at a client computer system, a request to widgetize the web-based computer application to permit the computer application to be run as a desktop widget at the client computer system; and a definition module to provide to the client computer system, in response to the request to widgetize, using the at least one processor, a definition file associated with the web-based computer application, the definition file comprising a reference link to the web-based computer application, the reference link including one or more parameters, the one or more parameters to instruct the web-based computer application to generate output in the format suitable for use by the widget engine provided at the client computer system.