Chicago (IL) – Mozilla Labs has unveiled Prism 1.0, a cross-platform utility that allows users to run Web applications directly from their desktops.
“Eighteen months ago, we introduced an experimental project called Prism with the goal to bridge the divide in the user experience between web applications and desktop apps. We are pleased to announce the release of the beta version of Prism 1.0. It’s the culmination of more than a year of real-world use by companies like Yahoo! Zimbra, DesignLinks International and many others,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “The ability to run stand-alone web apps and access them like normal desktop apps provides instant benefits to end users. With the release of Prism 1.0 beta we are ready to start fostering an ecosystem that makes it easier for developers to create and distribute compelling web app bundles.”
According to Mozilla, thousands of end users have already installed Prism-enabled sites. Notable features in version 1.0 include:
- New API functionality that provides Prism-enabled web sites with “desktop like” power.
- The ability to configure fonts, proxy settings and other application-specific settings.
- On demand private data clearing.
- Automatic application update in conjunction with new versions of Prism.
- Tray icon support, as well as submenus for dock and system tray menus.
- Full OS X 10.4 support, along with further OS X specific enhancement.
- Support for SSL exceptions.
