RockMelt: Social browsing done right?

Two years in the making, and with a staff of some 30 people, the latest "social browser" today makes its way onto the web.

Dubbed the "Facebook browser", RockMelt is making a big splash. The new browser integrates familiar social features – chiefly Facebook – and naturally plans to reinvent how people use the internet.

But haven't we been here before?

Built atop Google Chromium, RockMelt looks to boom where others – namely, Flock – have failed to take off.

As an interface, RockMelt trumps Flock, which moved from Firefox to Chrome four months ago. With a handful of small-scale embellishments, RockMelt moreorless stays true to Chrome.

RockMelt moves into private beta: Chrome with strings attached? Image: RockMelt

But the Facebook integration, with a left-hand panel of "top friends", would no doubt prove aggravating as updates – comments, wall posts, and the like – are piped through to the browser, appearing as an orangey-yellow blob whenever new content is available. Likewise on the right-hand side panel with RSS feeds, from where you can drag-and-drop content to share with Facebook friends.

The search box – why does it need a search box? – also loads results in a drop-down menu, saving approximately 0.3 seconds from the average search. It's not to everyone's taste. Over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber notes: "They solved the problem of Chrome having a nice, simple, minimalist interface."

RockMelt is perhaps better-placed to drive forward social browsing where others have faltered. Its lead investor, Andreessen Horowitz, is jointly run by Marc Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape Communications. Its co-founder, Tim Howes, also figured in The Great Browser Battle of Netscape-Microsoft. They've seen browsers come and go.

While we wait for our beta request to be approved, have you jumped onto RockMelt yet? Tell us in the comments below. If, that is, your attention remains undisturbed for long enough.

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