Flock: a new browser

Flock isn't really all that new, but it is now stable. Based on Firefox's code it is perhaps the best example of Browser 2.0, kitting up users to deal more effectively with all sorts of Web 2.0 things.

It's chief advantage has been to take the staples of people's digital lives and sew them into the fabric of the browser itself.

Things I particularly like are the in-house blog editor; integration with Flickr, YouTube, Facebook et al; nice RSS feed reading (doing Google Reader's job); the My World homepage (doing what iGoogle does but better); and the media bar, where all sorts of web goodies are a few clicks closer than previously.

For me the best feature of all is the Web Clipboard, a shelf where things acquired on digital travels can be stored for a later time. That is going to be very useful to the sort of non-linear, 'ooh, that looks interesting' kind of browsing I do and will take the heat off my bursting bookmarks toolbar. Let's hope Firefox 3 has some of its features.