The Download Now link will prompt a local download of the Firefox extension. To install the extension directly, open the file using your Firefox browser.
Prism lets you take Web-based applications and convert them into desktop applications. While it performed well during our tests, were trying to figure out why anyone would find it necessary.
The programs interface appears as a pop-up window and a blank browser window. There's no Help menu, so we had to play around with it to figure out just what, exactly, it does. Basically, you enter a URL and a name and a shortcut appears in a location of your choice. We chose to place a shortcut on our desktop, and sure enough, when we clicked on it, the corresponding Web site appeared in the Prism browser window. The browser itself is plain and lacks any navigational buttons, which was really frustrating since the app is still Web-based and you can't go back to the last page.
If you could view the pages offline, we could understand the point of this program. From what we understand, the program is still under development. We think its best that you wait until the makers of Prism finish what they've started before you give it a try.
From Mozilla Labs:
Prism for Firefox is a simple XULRunner based browser that hosts Web applications without the normal Web browser user interface. WebRunner is based on a concept called Site Specific Browsers (SSB). An SSB is an application with an embedded browser designed to work exclusively with a single web application.
shawnthroop
November 15, 2007
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Version: Prism 0.8
2007-11-15 20:11:25
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By shawnthroop
Pros
Very simple interface and since it uses the Firefox engine it loads fast and reliably. I was very happy to see that there are so many .webapps already up and running for it. (I use Gmail and it works well with all of their web apps (ie. google docs and spreadsheets, google notes, reader...) great idea on Mozilla's part I haven't opened up outlook since I installed prism. One thing that i really liked is that it uses the Firefox spell checker which was a lacking feature in Gmail.
Cons
Its a bit unstable, as are all new products in beta testing, but it still runs well. I did notice a few glitches though when using some web based apps such as Docs and Spreadsheets and Google Notes but I'm sure mozilla will smooth out the kinks in time. It amy not be a necessity but its a good start to Web based apps on your desktop
