WebRunner - Focused Browsing » Solo Technology

WebRunner - Focused Browsing

Posted on October 16, 2007 2 Comments

WebRunner is a small single purpose browser from the Mozilla folks. They call it a Site Specific Browser (SSB) — you might just call it stripped down and light-weight. Six of one, half-dozen of the other, I suppose.

An SSB is an application with an embedded browser designed to work exclusively with a single web application. It doesn’t have the menus, toolbars and accoutrement’s of a normal web browser. Some people have called it a “distraction free browser” because none of the typical browser chrome is used.

Want to hit a web-based site quickly and ensure that you don’t end up clicking after some other bright shiny object? This thing might be just the ticket. To help you, it’ll ensure that any external links that are clicked will open in your “real” browser.

You can find a starter list of bundles to get you rolling; including a Meebo option. I mention that as this can probably replace my own little attempt at a “Meebo Dektop” app from last year. :-) (almost 1000 downloads though, wheeee!).

Grab a bundle, if it has a .zip extension, change it to be a .webapp extension instead. Double-click it and marvel at how quickly a browser can start. Notice that you don’t have an address bar…

Small word of caution: My understanding is that this uses the latest rendering engine (same as the upcoming Firefox 3). As such, some sites may look a little “off”. For instance, Meebo is perfectly usable, but does have a few cosmetic glitches:

Meebo in WebRunner

Internet Duct Tape has a great post on this topic that includes a package full of “bundles” to launch 32 GTD’ish sites. Odds are, your favorite is probably in the site. It’s also a pretty decent list to just look over — I spotted several sites I’d never heard of; many of those look intriguing! Great stuff.

How’s that for full-circle? I started with a post about a Site Specific Browser and then finished with a list of links to aimlessly wander through.