It's time to flock to Flock (This is a must!)
Well after releasing their developer edition some months back, Flock have now released the first beta edition of their new web browser. I’ve been trying out the developer edition for the last month or so and love it. It is definitely my browser of choice. If you do quite a bit of blogging, then this browser is perfectly suited to that. It integrates photos, blog posting, and blog/news feeds all into the browser as well as having a fantastic intuitive search box.
If you like the Live Bookmarks feature in Firefox, you’ll LOVE the news/blog feed in Flock. It condenses all the blogs and news sites you follow into a newspaper like frontpage. Brilliant. And being able to post from my browser (and save a post offline if it’s not finished) is ideal.
For those of you who use Flickr or Photobucket for your photo’s, your life just got so much better. All your photo’s will appear at the top of your browser where you can simply drag and drop them straight into a new post you’re creating. Easy.
This is the browser you need to be using! To download the Flock browser, just visit their website at www.flock.com.
Why not download it, try it out, and then post your thoughts back here?
If you’d like to know a bit more about this, then check out this article
.
technorati tags:flock, browser, software, reviews, web 2.0
June 14th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
I’ve been using it every now and then because i find it a bit quicker than firefox at times. i don’t think i’ve exploited all the features though. I use bloglines for news/blog aggregation, but i’ll check out the flock aggregator. We’re such geeks.
June 14th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
So is the memory footprint still fairly low? Are extensions, themes, etc still an option? From what I remember when I tried it out before, this was essentially a Firefox or Mozilla build with features of some current extensions made default.
June 14th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Lon - yeah, I used to use bloglines, but I’m definitely preferring Flock for feed aggregation. You should definitely try our the Flickr tool (that’s something I can already not imagine not having). It’s includes a REALLY easy way to upload pics too.
Parke - I’ve not been having any memory problems with this beta version. And Flock are making all Firefox extensions available too. I think this is more that just Firefox with default extensions (and even if it was, isn’t that much better for the average user who’ll never bother with extensions?)
June 14th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Do forgive my cynical tone. It’s my overall weariness showing through and not you. It just seems that in the past few years we have announcements every day of new software we just have to have. I don’t buy it.
I think Flock looks like a great tool, but I just don’t see much that would draw me away from Firefox. Most of its features can be replicated with extensions that I can choose to install or unintstall depending on my habits.
You’re right that this does look like a great tool to recommend to new users that want to join the blogging and picture revolution with minimal bother so thank you for posting about it.
June 14th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
I hear you, Parke. It wasn’t really for technical people who are happy using extensions with Firefox that I think this post is primarily for (thanks for joining the conversation…I’m not wishing you hadn’t commented!!). I think that for the average user who just wants something that is easy to use though, Flock has a lot of offer - particuarly if that user is a blogger. Hence my excitement! My wife, Rachel, really like it which says a lot (she is definitely not technical!!)
June 14th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
thanks sam. i’ll try it.
June 14th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
Good to hear, Niza…let us know how you get on!
June 14th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
Yay! If Rachel can use it then I can use it. I think. I may have questions for you at first…if I were in Sheffield like Rachel it would be easier; but I don’t have the handy here-and-now version of Sam who can sit behind me and show me what to click at the computer, I’ve got to make do with the virtual post-a-comment version of Sam. Lol!
June 14th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Rachel was just talking to me as I was reading your comment, Mel, and I started to chuckle and had to stop and read her what you’d writted! Sorry you only get the “virtual post-a-comment version of me”!! I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just download the file, run that file, and then it should walk you through the process of setting it all up. Let me know if you have any questions though…happy to help as much as I can. And let me know how it goes!
June 14th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
I’ve been an Internet Explorer guy forever, but I’ll give it a try, especially if it integrates so many functions. How do you keep track of updated blogs (to replace bloglines)?
June 15th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Nathan, you should definitely give it a try. You will actually be able to import all of the blogs you follow from bloglines into Flock. For adding new blogs into Flock, you’ll just be best to take a look at this overview on the Flock site: http://www.flock.com/tour/news
Let me know how it goes.
June 15th, 2006 at 9:44 am
For those of you who still aren’t convinced enough to download Flock and try it out, why not at least take the tour on their website? You can check out the features here: http://www.flock.com/tour
June 15th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I made the switch. I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to Internet Explorer. It will take me a while to discover the nuances, but so far, I’m loving it! Thanks Sam!
June 15th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Thought you’d like it! It’s in a whole other league to Internet Explorer in my opinion (and that includes the new version 7 which I’ve tried an early version of).
Favourite feature?
June 15th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I think my favorite feature may be the picture features. From uploading to inserting pics into blogs, it couldn’t be more simple. I’m still working on the Blog function, had some spacing issues on my last post. It’s definitely got me hooked though! Thanks Sam!
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:33 pm
So has anyone been using Flock reguarly? What do you think?