New Web Browser Recommendation: Flock

Just when I was getting used to my Firefox web browser, along comes Flock. A flock of what? Well Flock is a relatively new web browser that is creating a lot of buzz in the web 2.0 world. It is actually a close relative to Firefox, as it is built out of the Firefox codebase.

I first became aware of this service by tuning into the Thirty Day Challenge. Ed Dale does a 30 Day Challenge to teach affiliate marketing techniques for free, to anyone who signs up. Ed Dale provides such useful and cutting edge information during this thirty day period, that when he gave such high marks to Flock, I decided it was time to check it out.

It's a bit overwhelming and confusing at first, because there is so much on the screen. Though I must say I am very pleased with this service and give it a high recommendation as well. The speed at which I'm able to zip from page to page is a welcome bonus. I can see this facilitating the speed at which I accomplish the task I do on a daily bases. As an online web 2.0 marketer it is envaluble, as a tool the way it integrates with the popular social networks, blog sites, my own emails, etc.

Flock specializes in providing social networking and other Web 2.0 features built into its user interface. The browser is built on the Mozilla Firefox Code base. On June 16th 2008 Flock 2 based on Mozilla's Firefox 3 went into open beta.
The Flock browser is available as a free download, and supports Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms.

In May 2008, Flock won the Social Networking category of the Webby Awards. Flock was nominated for this award along with Facebook, Bebo, and Ning. On July 22, 2008 Linux distributor PC/OS announced that the Flock browser would replace Firefox as its primary browser on its workstation releases.

Features
Flock 1.1 integrates social networking and media services including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Flickr, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. When you log into any of the supported social services, Flock automatically activates these services within its features:

* Flock can indicate when friends have updated their profile, uploaded photos or other items.
* Flock has internal features that allows the sharing of text, links, photos and videos.]
* Flock has its own "media bar" allowing preview of online videos and photos, and subscription to photo and video feeds.
* Flock's Feed Reader organizes Atom and RSS feeds.
* Flock's Blog Editor allows direct posting into a designated blog, along with being a blog reader.
* Flock's web-mail component allows users to check email without going to the site, compose new messages, and to drag and drop pictures and videos from the mediabar or web clipboard into a new email message.

I'm still learning some of the features and not even taking advantage of all of them, but I highly recommend downloading Flock and giving it a test drive. I can already see the advantages of using this quick and agile service. And in the web 2.0 world, high speed is what it's all about.