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Snowl - the latest experimental project from Mozilla Labs.

Mozilla Labs announced a new experiment called “Snowl.” This is an in-browser IM that supports RSS/Atom feeds and twitter messages. If the experiment receives positive feedback and it proves to be a successful addition, it will be included in Firefox.

Right now Mozilla is just calling out for user feedback and support. If you think Snowl is something you might need in your browser, you might want to get involved in the project.

How many IM services do you use? I for one use only three: Yahoo! Messenger, Skype and Gtalk and the most annoying part is switching windows, having to log in on three different locations, having to “open” different applications and having to clutter my programs partition… Of course, there are ways to “gather together” these platforms into one, but this means to give proprietary information (user ID and password) to third party services. I guess this will never change. The only thing that might change is how the IM messages are delivered.

We have Meebo that merges IM from Yahoo, Gtalk, MSN and AIM into the “meebo” IM interface; we have MeGlobe that does in-browser IM with instant translation (I’ve never tried it, but CNET’s Josh Lowensohn reviewed it here), Yahoo and Google already offer in-browser IM, and now Mozilla tries the same waters. Snowl is Mozilla’s latest experiment. It is based on a Firefox extension easy to download and install (careful, the tool is still buggy “and subsequent versions will include changes that break functionality and delete all your messages, making you start over from scratch”.

The developers explain how the prototype works on the Mozilla Labs blog and what surprised me is that they chose no other service than twitter to experiment with. The future will bring support for other sources like Facebook, AIM and Gtalk, but for the time being, if you don’t twit… you’ll miss the “fun.”

I am a convinced Firefox supporter, not so fond of twitter though. Yet I understand Mozilla’s choice of experimenting with twitter… I mean: who wants to “save” twitter messages? Skipping the sarcasm, the new in-browser from Mozilla might turn into a positive development once the bugs are fixed.

The prototype already supports RSS/Atom feeds and twitter messages and it displays these in two ways: a river of news (first image below) and a three-pane list.

Snowl River of News.

Three-pane list.

There’s nothing to say that Snowl is there to stay – Mozilla just wants to see if the idea will “catch” and if the users really need such a tool. Myke Melez, software developer at Mozilla Labs, declared in an interview at Computerworld:

Extensions are a great way to prototype functionality in Firefox,[…] but I want to stress that this is a Labs experiment, and doesn’t mean we’re adding this in Firefox. The reason why we’re conducting this experiment [with Snowl] is because we don’t know if messaging should be in the browser. “

Firefox enthusiasts can get involved in the project by posting in the forum, reporting bugs, or submitting their own bug fixes and enhancements.

See what other online publications write about Snowl:

• Mozilla experiments with a universal content reader, Snowl
• Mozilla experiments push Firefox envelope
• Mozilla launches Snowl messaging prototype
• Mozilla introduces Snowl for Firefox
• Mozilla Lets Snowl Fly
• Mozilla Announces Snowl Messaging Project
• Mozilla Launches Snowl Messaging Prototype
• Firefox’s Snowl Takes Direct Aim At Microsoft Internet Plans
• Snowl: Firefox messaging hub for those too lazy to use other…
• A First Look at Mozilla’s Snowl
• Mozilla introduces a buddy for Firefox: Snowl
• Mozilla’s Snowl Lets You Surf the Web and Handle Messaging
• Snowl: Unified Messaging In Your (Firefox) Browser
• Mozilla’s Snowl — A Unified Messaging Interface