Being the overly cautious web developer that I am, I use a total of 5 different web browsers to make sure my site is going to render correctly on everyones computer. Internet Exploder Explorer is still the most commonly used so unfortunately I have to test in that, Firefox comes in 2nd for consumer use, Safari next (now available for Windows!), followed by Opera and some Linux folks on Konquerer. The final tool in my arsenal is the Lynx Web Browser which can emulate how search engine spiders read your site.

Since I’m on Linux, I use Crossover Office to run Internet Explorer 7 (courtesy of this nifty little linux application), Firefox comes default on most distros of Linux, Opera can be installed through most Linux Package Managers, and interestingly enough, Konqueror uses the same rendering engine as Safari so in essence I can test on Safari as well. Linux is just as relevant as a web designer’s OS of choice as Windows and Mac; so there :p .

So now I’m trying out the Flock web browser from Mozilla, and I must admit.. I think I’m switching from Firefox over to this bad boy now.

Built For Bloggers!
Some of the things that have impressed me the most about Flock is how it’s geared towards social network geeks like myself by integrating the ability to upload text and pictures directly into your blog (multiple blog platforms are supported) and direct photo uploading to your flickr or Photobucket accounts without having to install any special add-ons or plugins. Pretty cool huh?

The “blogthis” feature will copy any highlighted text or image from a page you’re on

Then it will let you start blogging about it from within your browser. Just tell the browser where your blog is and your login credintials and away you go!

Of course you can expand your browser to link into other social media platforms with a del.icio.us extension, stumbleupon or if you want to download a video from youtube and other video sites.

Built For Web Developers!

One of the most popular extensions in Firefox is called Web Developer by Chris Pederick. Well his great work has been ported over to Flock as well, and frankly it’s a must have for any web dev out there. You can also install Firebug and Aardvark for other web development tasks to ease the workflow.

But the real strength for this browser is it’s ability to render CSS correctly (yea yea, just like Firefox and Opera). Regardless that others already do this, I just think that Flock will be one of the best browsers to show early support for new CSS directives in the future.

Built For SEO’s!

The list of search engines you can add to your browser is just too damn cool for words in my opinion. Thousands of search engines from traditional search giants to social portals to whatever floats your pickle. For internet marketing people, this is a goldmine for really finding information and how your keywords are being represented from a ton of sources. Something to think about…

So far all I’ve seen that’s truly geared towards SEO/SEM people is the RankQuest extension, which to be honest I’m not that fond of. I prefer SEOpen, which works fine on Flock.

Built For EVERYONE

That’s the bottom line. Seems to be a little of everything for anyone who uses their computer for more than just the occasional email or school assignment. Give it a shot, and tell me what you think.

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