Comments on: Is Chrome a Prism Killer?

By: Webapps as desktop apps with Prism and Fluid (site specific browsers - SSBs) » Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:41:55 +0000

[...] of these programs are the Chrome web browser running on a Mac, but the functionality they offer is similar to Chrome. Both are free applications which let users run webapps as desktop apps. Each has different [...]

By: Percy

Percy — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:15:33 +0000

So WordPress ate my HTML.

It should have read: “And so on. Then a web developer could add a link tag to the page header for the specific OS and be done.”

By: Percy

Percy — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:59:06 +0000

I think Google’s only advantage (and not that it’s small) right now is that its desktopize option is already in the hands of millions.

But neither Prism, nor Chrome’s implementation is that compelling at this point. I believe there’s a long race ahead. Sandboxing a web app and adding an icon is cool, but not even starting to replicate the desktop experience and I find it very difficult for this to happen on its own.

Instead, I would like to see some standardized XML format that allows a web site to tell a browser what to do to properly desktopize the web version.

For example: (imagine it as XML)
large-icon:http://mysite.com/big_logo.png
small-icon:http://mysite.com/small_logo.png
title:My Site’s Cool App
tooltip:My Site’s Cool App
shell-extensions:Share on Twitter, http://mysite.com/share.php, any-file
shell-extensions:Upload photo to MySite, http://mysite.com/photo-upload.php, *.jpg *.gif *.png
protocol-handler-for: mailto:, im:, irc:, ircs:
content-handler-for: image/png, image/jpg
require-offline-space: 50MB
window-min-size:640×480
allow-tabs:off

And so on. Then a web developer could add and be done.

By: Matthew Gertner

Matthew Gertner — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:30:46 +0000

Done: http://browsing.justdiscourse.com/2008/09/15/prism-extension-for-firefox-30x/

By: Other Chris

Other Chris — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:22:24 +0000

Have you tried Prism 0.9.1? I use it for Gmail on Mac and I love it.

The Prism extension for Firefox is version 0.2. Again, how about an update?

By: Matthew Gertner

Matthew Gertner — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:29:35 +0000

Have you tried Prism 0.9.1? I use it for Gmail on Mac and I love it.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:05:47 +0000

Has Prism been improved on the Mac? I really want to run GMail in Prism but the last two releases have worked very badly on the Mac (after the first time using it the shortcut doesn’t work and one must start over). Thus, I’ve started using Fluid, which is much more polished, but it seems to have some quirks running GMail. I’ll definately try Chrome when it gets to the Mac, although I really would rather use Prism.

By: MarkC

MarkC — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:55:28 +0000

One advantage that Prism has is XUL. For remote XUL developers Prism provides a simple deployment option when full-blown Firefox can’t be considered for some reason.

I’d like to see it made easier for a Prism bundle to include XUL that can target the browser content (with some sandboxing or security warning). This would allow a Prism application to easily have additional UI content which is tailored to work with the target application, but which looks and feels like native widgets.

Consider, for example, being able to provide a XUL menu in your GMail Prism bundle which makes the resultant webapp seem more like a traditional desktop application. This is something that Google Chrome can’t do, and could be a killer feature for Prism.

By: MattW

MattW — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:30:37 +0000

Simon’s correct, Chrome will be on Linux and Mac OS X in time. Their Windows version was the first one started, and is currently the only one you can actually build a functioning browser on. Their Linux and Mac teams didn’t get to work until the Windows team had put the basics together.

By: Other Chris

Other Chris — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:39:51 +0000

I have to agree with the other Chris. Where are updated builds of Prism? I’ve been using the same extension since March, and it doesn’t officially support Firefox 3.0.1. What’s up with that?

And I would still use it, but the icons it creates look horrible! I don’t want those on my desktop.

Maybe if Prism had some continual development, I’d be happier with it. But nothing since March.