3pointD.com

Download the new beta test client for the virtual world of Second Life and you can now browse the Web from a new “Web” tab in your profile, or load the Web pages that other users have set as their home page when you view their profiles. I even managed to search 3pointD from my profile page, though I was for some reason unable to even load the Gmail front page, and was not given an error message explaining why (though I was able to search Google for Gmail). You can also see new information on the client’s login screen (more about that in a moment).

Typically, the in-world Web functionality is quite clunky at the moment. There’s an “Open…” button which does not open the URL in your profile but launches your default browser app and takes you outside the world. There aren’t any error messages at the moment, as noted. And there’s an unexplained “Home” button that doesn’t take you to your home page, but sets the current page as your home profile page, it seems. Most annoying, the profile isn’t resizable, so dynamic widths on Web pages appear squished into a tiny column that you’re unable to expand. Still, it’s a start, and with any luck LL will set about tarting it up, explaining just what pages and protocols the browser supports, and writing some documentation.

Linden Lab’s official blog also mentions that future versions of the SL client will have Web-based information included on the login screen. At the moment it’s only the latest headlines from the Linden blog, as well as current population information, but it opens the door for a variety of useful things that could come to occupy that space.

Clunky as they may be at the moment, both these features should eventually greatly expand the possibilties for SL. What the world is in great need of is a better interface to the Web and the rest of the world on this side of the login screen. These are first steps. One of the things that will be interesting to watch is whether it will be Linden Lab or some outside party that gets to the good stuff first.