A great new tool Mozilla is working on is called Prism, and it gives you the ability to create an application for your desktop out of any web service. Great examples are Gmail, Google Docs, Remember the Milk, but you can do it for any web page really.

Essentially it is a sort of browser that opens up a page, but does so outside you normal environment, making everything browser free. This means that you can focus more on a specific page, which may lead to productivity, but it also means that there will be no data loss if Firefox or IE crashes. It also enables you to keep your email app or other page open all the time easily.

You can create an application out of any page using a simple dialog, just type the URL and the name you want to give it. Simply clicking ok will create a one-time app, but you can save it to the desktop later. Saving it to the desktop (or creating a shortcut) means you will be able to launch your app any time from the place you saved it to.

I simply love Prism because it is a very simple, yet very useful and productive program to use. It is badly missing the feature to minimize to tray though, I think the point of Prism is that you can have Gmail or a calendar app open at all times, independently from your browser. Because of this it would be awesome to be able to minimize the window to the tray, maybe even binding a universal shortcut to it to be able to call it up whenever you need it.

One thing I very much hate about Firefox is the download window. Whenever I download anything an annoying window pops up. I would be ok with it if it would materialize in the background, but instead, after each link click to download it springs up in my face.

Of course I don’t really hate Firefox for this, since there had been an addon around for ages to help with this problem. Download statusbar puts all your downloads in a bar at the bottom of the browser, saving you from that nagging download screen.

All finished items can be cleared with a mouse click, but if you don’t clear them the only problem it causes is a 15 pixel bar at the bottom of the screen. It increases my productivity a bit because it removes the pop up, and also because now I don’t have to click close every time I download something. This is one of my must-have addons, after each OS reinstall it’s one of the first ones I download.

The go to page for Firefox extensions just got revamped and they did a really good job with it at that. The overall design is much smoother and more eye-pleasing, but they managed to pour some usability in as well.

Rating and commenting is now very simple and viewing screenshots is much easier using the menu below as well. Now extensions reviews look much more like Amazon reviews giving you info at a glimpse, and detailed info as well if you need it.

Mozilla is probably ready to roll out Firefox 3 soon and is getting ready with this makeover. Even if FF3 is a bit down the road I always like to see companies actively upgrading their sites.

If you want to build a personal database of links you can copy all your favorites simply to Excel using a simple tool I already had a look at here on Hack Your Day. In How to copy links easily I showed you how to productively copy all links on a page, or all selected ones. All you need is a Firefox extensions called Copy Links and some organization of favorites.

If you go to favorites and organize favorites you can export all this info by going to file and export. The file is saved in html format, which you can open, and view your link list. Now all you need to do is select all, or just the ones you want and copy using Copy Links. You can then paste it into Excel, it will place each link one after another.

If you have links mixed up and you need a bunch from here and there, create a new folder and drag all the links you eed in there. When you export, links are grouped by folder, so you can easily select the ones you need.

If you use Google Docs a lot, I found an extension for you that not only helps you in organization, but also lets you upload and view any document in the blink of an eye. Apart from being beautifully done, you can work with added productivity, since you don’t have to have the Google Docs tab open, or visit the page at all. Just open the sidebar and click on any item you need.

The filtering capabilities are great, you can view files by type, arranging them by time, date and author, and you can of course search your docs. The search also looks inside the content, so you should be able to find anything in seconds.

Another great feature is that the app allows for drag and drop uploading, making the organization of files a breeze, you can back up whole folders this way if you want to.

Overall I love both the look and feel and the usability of this Firefox addon. If you use Google Docs take it for a spin, I’m sure you’ll love it!

Download Google Docs Bar from its website found via Lifehacker