Like everyone else, I have the standard stable of browsers: IE; Firefox; Safari and Chrome. I use IE at work because the applications we use render best on IE. At home, we use Chrome primarily because of its speed. It’s beautiful in its simplicity although I must admit I was initially apprehensive because I felt I was surrendering too much to Google. It already knows a lot about me and my browsing that using its browser was a bit scary. IE and even Firefox felt bogged down, though, and Chrome’s performance was better.
A few weeks ago, I read about a techcrunch.com about a new browser that was backed by the guy who built Netscape. The premise seemed interesting enough. In light of all the buzz around social networking and as much as there’s a overabundance of ‘sharing’ and ‘liking’ and ‘retweeting’ going on, a browser that made all these easier seemed like the right idea.
I went to RockMelt.com and asked for an invite. A few days later I got the invitation and downloaded the browser. I’ve been alternating between Chrome and RockMelt ever since. RockMelt is built using the Chromium platform which is the platform that Chrome uses so it looks and feels like Chrome. It is interesting, though, that instead of creating plugins that sit on top of Chrome, they decided to take full control and embed the additional features into the browser itself.
On the left bar is for FB friends – online or favorites. Here you can send a message, write on the wall or see recent activity. Also on the left is a quick way to update your FB status or send a tweet.
Over on the top is the standard address field and a search field. What’s new here is the Share button. When you are on any web page and you feel the urge to share, clicking this button will allow you to easily share on FB or Twitter.
On the right side is the feed section. It starts off with RockMelt, Facebook and Twitter but you can add feeds from other sources. I currently have TechCrunch, CNN, Fortune and Brian Solis. Once you download RockMelt, they’ll give you four invites to share.
So will it be the future of browsers? Will it eat into the users of the major browsers? Probably not. Is Facebook and Twitter the end all be all? Most likely not. It’s an evolution. It’s fun and easy. It rides the wave of Facebook and Twitter and hope it gets adopted. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and if you are browsing for fun or if you are swept by the flood of sharing and over-sharing, this surely is worth a try. The good thing here is that it’s still fast, simple and easy. And as long as the world continues to be engaged in social media and social networks, RockMelt will have a quick link on my desktop.
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