The
beta version of BitTorrent’s experimental, torrent-based browser
‘Maelstrom’ is now available for download. The browser is based on
Chromium (an open-source web browser project from which Google Chrome
draws its source code), which allows websites to work over the
BitTorrent protocol and be hosted by peers, without the need for any
servers. Even though this is a Chromium-based browser, BitTorrent will
not officially support Chrome extensions and apps from the Chrome Web
Store.
As
of now, Maelstrom is only available for Windows users who can download
the browser from here. BitTorrent promises that future versions of the
browser will soon be available for Mac and Linux users as well.
TechCrunch
pointed out that setting Maelstrom into beta version will mean ‘opening
the project to more people’. This will be helpful for people who might
be interested in a first look at the browser and they will get an
opportunity to see what content distribution might look like on a
torrent-based service.
Maelstrom
works just like any other regular browser that accesses sites over
standard HTTP/HTTPS protocols. With this browser, web pages can be
delivered via peer-to-peer torrent technology which is very different
from the traditional server-to-client system.
In
conversation with VentureBeat, Product Manager Robert Velasquez said,
“The biggest limitation right now is the amount of content. It’s a new
way to publish, and as such, there’s not many websites published as
torrents.”He added that their biggest goal with the release was to get
developers involved and to know what they needed in order for them to
start publishing websites in this manner.
BitTorrent
says that it has already seen some healthy interest including more than
10,000 developers and 3500 site publishers. The company has also
released developer tools, which will make it easier for publishers along
with developers to create torrent-packaged content for the browser.
Posted by : Gizmeon
No comments:
Post a Comment