I like experimenting, so I spent a few minutes trying it out and seeing how it worked.  Inside the web page version of Twitter, it works fantastically, now sitting next to the reply link.  However, it’s when you look at things from a third-party client that you notice its functionality is still limited.

None of the new retweets works on Tweetdeck For iPhone or mobile Tweetie 2.  You don’t get anything.  Full stop (Australia)/period (US).

I had been expecting at least SOMETHING to make it out to the third-party clients, even if it wasn’t identical to that on the web page.  I’m told, though, that the retweet API hasn’t been set up for outside the page.  Third-party client developers will have to upgrade their apps to use this new retweet API.

For the meantime, I can only recommend using this new retweet link/button for non-essential information.  If your followers don’t use the web page, they won’t see anything you send through this mechanism yet, a huge drawback if using retweets for emergencies.

On the other hand, if you’re using the web version of Twitter, you will see the new symbol to signify this new item, the name of the person being retweeted and their message in its full entirety.  Underneath this you’ll see the name of the person retweeting, or the numbers of people passing the original message on.  If you’re posting to someone whose web version isn’t part of the beta, instead of the new symbol they’ll see ‘RT.’

This new system does not do away with our normal retweeting method.  It’s still very functional and still quite an option.

Having both methods allows great choice of method, though, until the beta moves a bit further along and developers access the retweet API, the original method is still better for urgent/important/emergency retweets.

While I like this new way, I’m more looking forward to when I can see a retweet from my web version making it to my Tweetie 2.  Then it’s going to be a heck of a lot more useful.