ChromeDeck - Your New Shiny Friend ? A quick comparison review.

So I am trying the new shiny toy that everyone is talking about, it is the Chrome version of the popular desktop client "TweetDeck" . First of all I must confess that I will generally prefer a browser extension over a desktop application if I am working with just one screen. I like to have the ability to surf seamlessly and with Chromed Bird, as far as Twitter is concerned, I am more than satisfied . Of course if you would like to monitor multiple accounts or check your updates across multiple social networks that wouldn't be the obvious choice, but there is still some workarounds.  I thought initially that ChromeDeck would sit like every other extensions but to access it you have to open a new tab which is unfortunate for me because I run already Speed Dial. You will have to disable it in order to use your new shiny friend though to be honest it is the same with every Google Chrome Web Store Apps so I hope that  Speed Dial will find a solution. Chrome TweetDeck, not to be confused with the other ChromeDeck, is not really different from Seesmic Web or Yoono when used in tab mode.

I was more waiting for an advanced version of Chromed Bird or for a more integrated sidebar version of Yoono. But  ChromeDeck do looks great with its Lazyscope-like visual updates, though apart from the fact that it is inside your browser and not on your desktop, you will still have constantly to leave the page you are browsing to access it. I have made several screenshots of the aforementioned  aplications so you will have a better idea of how they display. To see them just click on this BridgeURL . From left to the right ChromeDeck | Chromed Bird | Seesmic Web| Yoono (Tab Mode) . Of course ChromeDeck is still in its early stage and if I had to choose between the desktop version and the web app, I will certainly use the later. It uses less resources and it is more suitable for single-monitor set-ups, as an extra bonus you can now benefit from Chrome spell check dictionaries ( at the moment TweetDeck only supports U.S English) . Just a quick note about this particular tweet :

Want a column of all updates from one person, even yourself? Click a name to open profile, click Tweets, click Add Column. Voila! :)Tue Dec 07 22:24:34 via TweetDeckChromeDeck chromedeck

You can already do that with Chromed Bird as you can see on these captures :

Overall it is a step in the right decision though personally I would have prefer a sidebar application. For now I will keep using Chromed Bird in conjunction with Yoono even if its sidebar mode on Chrome is not as integrated as its Firefox counterpart. I guess it is a question of feeling, the best way to form your judgement would be to try them all.

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