We deploy a Winforms app with a name like "Its Our App". People refer to it as IOA. I'd like to keep the full name for the shortcut but have watched many users hit the Windows key on their keyboard, type IOA, and state in wonder, "Where's It's Our App"?.
Is there a way to add IOA as a keyword for the shortcut, without adding it to the name, so Windows Search (or other desktop search apps) recognize it?
You can't apply keywords to shortcuts in the start menu.
As I see it you have three choices (with #3 being the best option):
1) Change the folder name of your application to "[Company] It's Our App" instead of simply "[Company]" and change the name of your application to "IOA".
2) Extend the Windows Search service: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa965362(VS.85).aspx
3) Change the name of your product to "It's Our App (IOA)". Having "IOA" in there should enable the start menu search to pick it up.
How about if you (programmatically) copy the shortcut from the start menu to the desktop and change the name of it when you do it? Here's an article on manually copying the shortcut. Just give the destination file another name.
Note that it won't be removed by the ClickOnce engine when you uninstall because its name is different. Just FYI.