And now a site-specific browser

A new breed of the browser, called a site-specific browser (a browser tailored to a single on-line application), is slowly evolving.A mainstream browser (like Firefox) is indifferent to the kind of web site being accessed. Whether the site is your vital email service Gmail or an ordinary web page, for the browser they are all the same.For applications like on-line word-processors, several browser features (like the navigation buttons, and the home button) are actually unnecessary and have only a nuisance value. However, a user cannot avoid them as the application can be run only with the browser.If loaded with several web sites, a browser often fails (due to memory shortage or a system error). This browser crash is a recipe for disaster if you are on an on-line application (say, a Google spreadsheet) and in the midst of some serious data processing.Besides these issues, keeping some applications opened alongside sites on multiple tabs could pose some security threats as well. For instance many have the tendency to keep their web mail (like Gmail) account tab open for accessing the mail interface with ease. Browsing the Net keeping one’s Gmail a/c ’always on’ (with the same browser) is not advisable given the security/privacy risks involved ( http://www.davidairey.co.uk/google-gmail-security-hijack/). To counter these issues, a new concept known as a site-specific browser (some even call it a single site browser) is gaining ground.A site-specific browser (SSB) lets you dedicate a customised browser to a specific web application/site. Once an instance of this browser is integrated with the application, it will continue to stay on your system tray -- just like a desktop application. This enables you to readily access this on-line application in the same way in which you access a desktop application. An SSB integrates your favourite on-line application with the desktop and enables you to run it like a desktop application.Windows based toolsBubbles (http://bubbleshq.com/), is a good product in this genre with many innovative features. To create a site-specific browser with Bubbles, start the program and enter the URL of the web application you wish to integrate with it.Once a site-specific bubble (say, for Gmail) is thus created, you will find a bubble icon on the system tray and you can load the application (here Gmail) by clicking on this icon.Of course, you can create any number of site-specific bubbles this way.Another feature of this service is the site-specific extension for enhancing the power of a bubble meant for an application. For example, if you have created a Gmail-specific bubble, you can install the gmail-specific extension (http://bubbleshq.com/scripts/88) meant for regularly notifying you about new/unread mails.If you are a Facebook user you may find the Facebook bubble chat extension (http://bubbleshq.com/scripts/167/facebook---just-chatting) useful.The concept of the SSB is not new. Mozilla’s SSB project, Prism (http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/ Prism), which seems to be the inspiration for some SSB products, has been around for some time. Despite being aware of Mozilla’s Prism several months ago, Netspeak earlier failed to see the real potential of the SSB concept. You can download Prism from here: http://wiki.mozilla.org/Prism#Installs.Mango (http://mango.browser.googlepages.com/) is yet another site-specific browser application worth a test. An advantage of Mango is its facility to export an application as self-executable ’.exe’ file.The SSB is an evolving trend in browser space. Many new/better products may surface soon. Before settling down to a product let us wait and watch how this technology takes shape.Courtesy: J. Murali, The Hindu