That invaluable Internet spelunker’s friend, the Wayback Machine, which allows users access to websites that have long since passed their sell-by date, has undergone a gamma-ray powered transmogrification. Well, they redesigned it and it’s now in open beta.
The new version is two-fold; first, it’s a wholesale migration of the site from a proprietary software to an open source platform, which should make the whole thing faster; second, there are interface changes that make it easier to be more precise in your digital time traveling.
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The new version is visually updated and less cluttered. (Bonus: teal highlights on the search page!) Below the URL search box are a button for the latest version of the site you’re seeking and another to see all results.
On the results page, the timeline toolbar gives you some instant and visualized information on where you are in the history of your site and how often and when the site was crawled. The calendar interface makes it easier to navigate to different versions.
The Time Lords say “(it’s) just cooler.” It might be more accurate to say it’s positively Fonzarelline compared to the fugly specimen of old. But seriously folks, it’s pretty nice, especially for a site that, though important, has been much more utilitarian than attractive for the bulk of its existence.
The Internet Archive site is also in beta and with the same cleaner more navigable UI.
Mind, beta means beta, so the site is not without hang-ups and visitors are asked to report bugs.
Up and running since before your parents were born (2001), the Wayback Machine catalogs obsolete websites and old version of extant ones about six months after a given date and once they are registered in the Open Directory.
Quick, read other ReadWriteWeb coverage on digital archaeology before these relentless spiders from a post-apocalyptic future roll them up.
Other sources: ResourceBlog
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