Not quite certain what's being requested here. This sounds a lot like asking for windows which are independent of the application window. If so, there's already a few requests for this. It's not an easy thing to do.
The other request sounds a lot like asking for context menus, or something along the lines of "pie" menus or "marking" menus - intelligent interfaces which pop up at or around the cursor when working. I'm not really a big fan of these, and I suspect it's not too popular with others either (have a look for the "Steering Wheel" interface available in a number of Autodesk products). The problem with this is that the pop-ups usually show up in the most inconvenient locations, obscuring part or all of what you're working on. While a dockable independent palette means you have to move the cursor, it's also in a consistent location which can be guaranteed to be out of the way.