Firefox users only: In the Mozilla Labs, one of the projects there is called Prism. This is an add-on (or standalone) app that splits web apps out of the browser and into their own clickable applications.

If doing this the Firefox add-on way (which is what most people would choose), you do the following:

1. Install the add-on from the Prism site.

2. Restart the browser when prompted.

3. When Firefox re-launches, go to a web site you would like “converted” into an app. For this example I’ll use the PCMech Forums.

4. Click Tools then Convert Website to Application.

Like this:

5. Configure the way the link will work. I chose Name as PCMech Forums and opted to place it as a shortcut on my desktop.

NOTE: You must choose at least one shortcut method else it won’t work. You either chose Desktop, Start Menu or Quick Launch Bar (or a combination thereof).

The default icon Prism will choose will be the favicon.ico provided by the web site, if any. If you click the Settings button you can choose your own custom icon if you wish.

When done, click OK.

You’re finished at this point. If you chose Desktop you will see the icon for that site on your Desktop.

What is the difference between doing it this way compared to just dragging/dropping an internet shortcut on the desktop?

The difference is that it runs as if it were an actual application. When you double-click the shortcut to run that site, you won’t see “Firefox” in the taskbar but rather the name you chose. This is very handy for web sites that you keep open often. It prevents you from closing them accidentally or “losing” a site in a sea of open tabs.

Examples of where Prism can be best used

Meebo (or any other web-based instant messenger)

Meebo is a site when you can login with your instant messaging accounts. A longstanding complaint about that site is that there’s no way to separate it out from the browser as a standalone app. With Prism, you can.

Web-based e-mail (Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, etc.)

Using Prism will allow you to keep your web-based mail open as a separate app. This is something many people keep open for long periods of time and can easily get lost when you open a bunch of tabs.

Blog admin (WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, etc.)

Those of us who blog always appreciate any way to get to the “admin panel” quicker. Prism gets this done in short order.

Online document editing (Thinkfree, Google Docs, etc.)

The goal of sites like this is to make them as much like applications as possible. When you load them via Prism you literally can’t tell the difference between using a regular app and a web app.

If it’s on the internet and meant to be an app, “Prism” it.

There are many other instances where Prism brings us that much closer to where traditional apps and web-based apps look nearly identical (and sometimes outright identical).

This is a super-nifty and very useful add-on. I usually don’t encounter “gotta have” add-ons for Firefox, but this is definitely one of them.