I just have to say this is the most ignorant and frustrating feature I have ever seen in an MMO period.

Not only do you have to log in through a browser, you have to use internet explorer.. seriously, people use that archaic browser?

First thing they should have done is upgrade to a normal login screen.

If you go into the Horizons directory, there is a file called horizonslauncher.exe.  Just shortcut that to your desktop and away you go, its been around for over a year.  Hope that helps.