Why I won’t be switching to Flock

Flock is edging toward its 1.0 release, but as of yet, I’m still not fully convinced by the “browser for social addicts”. Here’s why.

I still find that Flock takes a considerable time to load compared to any other browser, even good ol’ Internet Explorer. Although, the interface has been redesigned and the people at Flock have put some work into it, I still find it too cluttered and confusing. To me there are too many little icons in the Flock toolbar, and instead of having them even out the Navigation Toolbar icons, they sit right underneath. Also, having the media bar with its scrolling images and any side bar open, is just too much information on one screen.

The Web Clipboard is where you store all those clippings and images you’ve found on the net and want to use somewhere else, like on your blog. I’m still surprised that anything you save into it still opens up in a basic pop up window and not in a new tabbed window in the interface. And oddly enough, you can’t open more than one item from the Web Clipboard at once or move them around in the list.

In this new outing, Flock has added the “My World” page, a sort of personalized space where you get your own search bar, favorite feeds, sites and media. I don’t understand the need to add a search bar in there, as you already have one at the top of the browser. I also find the layout of the My World page cumbersome, and you can’t resize or move around elements, a la Netvibes. The “Available Services” section on the right side links to some of the biggest social networks, like del.icio.us or YouTube, but you can’t even add new ones, like Facebook or Twitter.

Don’t get me wrong, Flock is a great effort, and a different kind of browser. Still, I can’t adjust to the interface and don’t like how most of the social tools are integrated. Call me old fashioned but I prefer sticking to Firefox for my daily browsing.

Click here to read Nick’s retort to Cyril’s post, entitled ‘Why I might be switching to Flock’