browser applications

Overheard: Desktop Apps from the Web

Just when everyone was expecting that all our software and services would move completely into the browser and off the desktop, a movement begins to bring services out of the browser and back onto the desktop. Aseem Kishore, Web apps on your desktop

Pritesh Desai also does a really good job cutting through the clutter and explaining exactly what you’re getting with Mozilla Prism.

Prism lets you create an web app for any web page by downloading a small extension called Prism. Then to make a web app simply go to that web page and then select Tools>Make a web app. Prism is more or less like creating a shortcut pointing to a url on Internet.

My first thought was “Who would want to use Prism?” Then it occurred to me that Prism would be very useful for low-tech desktop management. It would be a fairly easy way for network admins in elementary education, for instance, to provide access to particular web sites without giving students access to the entire Internet.