I last week I wrote about my current fixation with Remember The Milk (RTM). I just found a reason to like it (and other web apps) even more. I read a brief reference to a SSB (Site Specific Browser). I vaguely recall hearing about the concept before so I decided to read a bit more about it. Turned out I had used one before (Zimbra Desktop Client). The concept is pretty basic, but an interesting twist to using websites over native applications. I read up on Mozilla’s Prism, and then I found the Mac only Fluid. I have since installed both apps. I know that all these apps do is let me run a dedicated instance of a browser for a specific site. I like that it makes a site act like a dedicated program. With RTM there are even scripts to enhance the site to make it more like a real installed program.
For me I typically have at least 3 tabs open in my browser at all times. These are the sites / apps that I always use. I have my Zimbra mailbox, RTM, and Google Voice. I am experiencing a known bug with the Zimbra Desktop program so I have been using the site. Besides that issue, now with a SSB I can take two of those tabs away and make them act like stand alone programs. Thankfully I am not the first person to want to do this with RTM or Google Voice. I have installed some Greese Monkey scripts to make Google Voice look and feel like a real program on my Mac. The doc icon even throws up the number of unread SMS or Voice Mails I have. RTM’s tasks lists now look like a separate program. Both are very cool. I even have nice looking doc icons for both.
On my Mac I have decided to use Fluid. It appears to have a few more features over Prism. I am configuring Prism on my Windows 7 laptop so I can use it there also. So far I am impressed with the results, and I am thinking about what other sites I would want to give the SSB make over? Both apps Fluid and Prism are taking me one step closer to truly accessing my “stuff” from anywhere in a nicely presented way.