Why I think Fluid/SSBs are cool:

I've been experimenting with the Fluid site specific browser tools for a few months on and off, but haven't really documented any of my work because it hasn't amounted to much. Fluid and its similar offering, Prism from Mozilla Labs, are in their infancy and have stagnated there for years. I think this is a shame because the ability for web pages and web applications to support badge icons, Growl notifications, drag and drop functionality and much more could truly revolutionize web browsing.

The Future:

I'm interested to see what direction Google's Chrome OS will take in the battle to blur the line between the web and the desktop. I think that the web is in need of an open source, widely adopted way to interact with the desktop via Javascript, and I can't think of any other company that is going to be able to pull this off better than Google. I think Mozilla has an opportunity to do this with Firefox, but that won't guarantee that it will be integrated into WebKit or Internet Explorer. Google is the media's darling child and has huge market clout, which I believe could force the other major players to play along or be passed.

What I hope (but don't expect) Google doesn't do is push for this functionality only through their Gears plugin. Javascript and AJAX have modernized the web in a non-proprietary way, and I would like to see that continue. Imagine a "Web 3.0" with more third-party lock-in than our current Adobe Flash-based hell hole. I'm not looking forward to it.

My work with Fluid:

I've added two very simple features to my Rackspace Email site specific browser. The first is the obvious support for badge icons, just like the traditional OS X Mail application. The second is popup notification support for incoming messages. These are two features that are supported on both Windows and Mac desktop applications and are, in my opinion, essential to the user's experience of using a web application in a site specific browser. Below is a screenshot of both of these features. Please note that this is a personal project and is no way endorsed or supported by Rackspace Hosting, Inc.