Ever heard of a “Social Web Browser”? Netscape developer, Marc Andreesen, unveiled the the new social web browser known as “RockMelt“, this afternoon. Andreesen kept various features in mind while developing the browser which interacts with the social world as social networks have become as important as viewing web pages. After undergoing development for almost two years, the beta version of the browser has been made available for a limited number of users, invitation only. The social web browser integrates social networking directly into the browser while using cloud-based servers to save user preferences.

Unlike other browsers, RockMelt requires a log-in before using it to browse the web. RockMelt allows users to access Facebook or Twitter feeds directly from the browser, instead of user navigating to individual sites. The browser also provides a list of your closest friends and contacts at the left-hand side of the browser, giving users access to quickly share news, videos, as well other stuff. On the right-side bar, you would find a customizable list of favorite sites and services, with yellow indicators to tell you when there’s a new content from a blog you read. You would even find a browser button to share content on Facebook or Twitter.Moreover, the company has also introduced its own URL shortener, http://me.lt.

The intelligent browser rolls out a drop-down list of search results which according to the developers uses a technology which pre-fetches the most relevant Web pages after a user enters a search query. This means, you can quickly access various web pages without having to wait for each page to load.

RockMelt is powered by the Google’s Search Engine with the browser itself based on Chromium, the open source version of Google’s Chrome browser. It would be pretty interesting to see whether users make a switch from Google Chrome to RockMelt as the new browser is powered by Google while integrating Social network features. RockMelt would surely be facing a tough competition in the browser market with competitors including Microsoft, Google, Mozilla and Apple, dominating a large share in the market.

The company is backed by some of the top names in the market raising almost $10 Million in funding by Marc Andreesen, Intuit Chairman and Apple board member Bill Campbell, and VMware co-founder Diane Greene. While Andreesen does have a strong share, the actual developer behind RockMelt is Tim Howes and Eric Vishria, who formerly worked with Andreesen.

So the question now awaits, Will People Make A Switch?

via [Mashable]