The SpaceTime browser has taken 3D browsing to a level than its predecessors couldn’t quite reach. It actually looks and works mostly like it should with relatively few bugs for a fist version 3D browser of this caliber. Kind of what I expected it to be, but beta version 2.0 is in the works so hey it might get better.

Basically you have your typical browser window when you first open it up, but when you type a URL into the address field, an image of the site you’re looking for pops up in a smaller window in the center of the screen. As you open more windows, they arrange themselves in a sort of a 3D line up staggered on top of each other one after another from left to right on your screen as you click from one image to the next.

I came across SpaceTime a few months ago by accident, while you guessed it, randomly searching the internet. The free software is amazing in its attempt and seriously elegant but still has some bugs that need to be worked out before I would suggest this for public use. I wanted to take it for a test drive and see what was under the hood and I was pleasantly surprised of the capabilities that it possesses; after my brief spin around the block. However, as a pretty net savvy individual, I think regular browsing with SpaceTime lacks a bit in its execution. When you type a URL directly into the address field it opens a smaller window that you need to double click in order to get where you’re trying to go. Unless you are using the built in search features for Google, Flickr, YouTube, eBay, and more the browser lacks that normalcy you need for everyday browsing.

SpaceTime requires a fairly powerful configuration of your computer systems hardware–512MB of RAM, a 3D graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory, Pentium 4 2.4GHz or AMD 2400xp+, and a screen resolution of at least 1280 by 1024. I used the program on a desktop with 1GB of RAM and an nVidia GeForce 7600 with 256MB of RAM, and the application still gave me a decent amount of lag. The images of Web pages are somewhat fuzzy and take a decent amount of time to render if the internet connection isn’t tip top.

Overall I think this is a great step forward but needs some more work before I make it a permanent fixture in my internet arsenal. I believe it’ll be a driving force in the 3D browsing arena in the near future, so keep a look out. Till that happens it’s a great toy you can tinker with, but let’s face it I’m not giving up my Firefox.