Two interesting things happened since I last really tried Flock: I seriously got into social networks (Twitter and Facebook); and the browser functionalities improved.
Let’s start with the not-so-new: the media bar has existed since the very first versions of Flock, but I didn’t know, or didn’t care, that it also handled YouTube (or maybe it didn’t then but does now), which makes it an ideal time-waster.
I’m not sure how new this is either, but it’s pretty cool: the search box displays results inline à la Inquisitor and, more importantly, lets you search your history as well — as far as I can tell it only takes titles into account, but that means you can find a page you read earlier by just remembering what it’s about or where it’s from, without having to browse through an endless list of page titles in the history menu.
Twitter and Facebook integration: the sidebars could be organized slightly better, but they’re a good start nonetheless — I particularly like that Flock auto-detects that you’re logging into the websites and just offers to remember your account information and add the toolbar. As simple as it gets.
The main problem with Flock, really, is that it uses the Firefox rendering engine, which I don’t like as much as WebKit. And the sidebars don’t really make optimal use of the screen real estate they occupy, which is pretty frustrating on the 13-inch MacBook.
I’m not sure I’m going to switch — I’m a geek, and I like more customization and functionality — but Flock actually looks to be the ideal browser for people who spend their days checking their online accounts.
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