I can’t see the point of the Desktop client; does it just save loading the web-site in a browser and logging in there? Can it be used offline?
I assumed that if the Desktop Client was loaded and signed-in that I would not have to sign-in my browser (Firefox) via the extension too, but that appears not to be the case
I guess it is a question of preference. Also, there is a portable client, that is for users, who want to use Bitwarden on machines without privileges.
[Edited]
You may be right, but a 40mb app as opposed to a url shortcut? Is there no more to it than that?
I have already downloaded the portable version, and that’s 70mb.
I think you mean “MB”, not “gb”.
Oops, corrected.
For one, the Mac OS X app has a few more settings including clearing clipboard, and also being able to sort into shared collections.
Coming from KeePass and KeeWeb I personally prefer dedicated desktop apps instead of browser plugins. Right now the Bitwarden dedicated desktop app is more familiar to me, but does not auto-fill credentials in either any browser or other app.
There is a feature request thread about this here.
The desktop client can be used offline in read-only mode.
Some people don’t trust plugins or they want the separation. Also, it’s nice if you have more than one account and need to use both at the same time.
That hadn’t occurred to me. Food for thought.
The desktop client is great to have in case the Bitwarden server ever goes down 
I learned something here, I didn’t realize BW could run without an internet connection to the most current web vault. I’ll have to try that. If this is true then it means there’s a local / encrypted copy somewhere on the machine, and that should be back-up-able. No ?