A new browser is in its beta stages. Before you roll your eyes about yet another web browser hitting the scene, this browser, called RockMelt, is unique. Marc Andreessen, the co-creator of the first web browser ever, Mosiac, is involved in the project. Needless to say, RockMelt is garnering some interest. The browser is being dubbed a “Facebook browser,” which might potentially mean cool integration features with social networking websites.
Early reviews have RockMelt pegged as cluttered at worst and useful for some at best. While the overload of features might relegate the browser to a niche market instead of user-friendly for all, there are plenty of users who fit into that niche market. RockMelt is said to thrive on multitasking. Users with Facebook pages, Tumblr accounts, Twitter feeds and RSS feeds will find RockMelt an effortless and innovative way to organize those major destinations.
Abstractness aside, how does RockMelt actually operate? Because the browser is currently in its beta version, the full capacity is unknown. The Facebook and Twitter options, however, have been tested and are explained in steps below.
- As soon as you open RockMelt, you log in to Facebook.
- Within the browser, the left side is a customizable index of your friends. If, while browsing, you discover a link you’d like to share with one or more of those friends, simply drag and drop the link to that friend.
- The right side of the browser includes your Twitter feed and a list of the blogs you follow. You can drag any of that information from the right side to the left side (Facebook) to share content.
The current beta version is extremely limited, but it is available to both Mac and Windows users through Facebook invitation. The main attraction of RockMelt is the ability to be surfing the web as you normally do, but have the added advantage of your social media accounts at your fingertips. Instead of opening a new tab, logging into your individual accounts, and sharing content that way, every site you visit is visible to you at once in a clean, understandable manner.