If you want to use Twitter directly from the Windows desktop, the there are some good Twitter clients available for Windows and most of these software requires Adobe AIR first. 

The new Echofon for Windows is a more simple alternative. It gives you access to all features of Twitter but consumes relatively less memory and doesn’t occupy the entire desktop screen.

Do check: 10 Best Twitter Desktop Applications for Windows

You get access to your Twitter lists, saved searches, @mentions, trending topics and direct messages in the same window. If a tweet includes a picture, Echofon will also display a thumbnail preview in your timeline. It also supports keyboard shortcuts so you can say Ctrl+K to mark all tweets as read or Ctrl+R to check if there are any new tweets in your timeline. While composing a tweet, you can use Ctrl+I to include a picture in your message.

Download Echofon BETA for Windows