Why I still use Firefox over Flock

While talking with someone back at the Rails Edge conference, the topic of Firefox vs. Flock arose. Both being avid users of the others non-choice of browser, where I prefer Firefox, we could not see eye-to-eye. While I can understand his use of Flock, I don’t think he understands my non-use of it, if that makes sense. So I thought I would share my reasoning as to why I won’t leave Firefox for Flock.

“Flock is the best blogging tool I’ve ever used”

It seems as though major proponents of Flock love to write about its blogging tool integration. I do post frequently, but not via a blogging tool. Firstly, I don’t need one because I run a custom-built site, and secondly, they can sometimes make posts appear sloppy. The “designer” in me couldn’t tolerate that. So that means I’d have to go into the admin section anyway to fix it. There’s nothing wrong with blogging tools, I just prefer to do it my way. My point? Flock being a blogging tool does absolutely nothing for me, so it’s irrelevant how good it is.

I prefer Google over Yahoo

Another reason I choose Firefox is the ongoing support from Google. I’m partial to Google and their search/applications. There’s something about Yahoo (or Yahoo!) that irritates me. The two services (Flickr and del.icio.us) I actually like (maybe love), they bought. I’d much rather have Google on my team than Yahoo!

Browser syncing

Something that has become increasingly important to me is keeping my browsers in sync among all three computers. Google browser sync does an absolute flawless job at this. I’ve never encountered one problem with it. It saves my history, bookmarks, cookies, etc. I’m pretty sure Flock is headed this way, if they’re not already there, but when I tried it, it didn’t even come close to working properly. And it wouldn’t even let me reorder my bookmarks on the toolbar (which I’m also picky about). So then there’s the Google browser sync extension for Flock, but it didn’t work right, either. And do you still have to “convert” Firefox extensions to work in Flock? Hopefully not.

Flock: Firefox for the social web

I think there are huge benefits in social software and collaboration, but I don’t necessarily want that social feeling around me all the time. The browser is heavily mixed-in with my job, so I don’t need constant distractions such as a New (13) label on my photo tool bar. I’d be distracted far too often. I’m an RSS junky, and having those distractions would result in me deliberately not adding my contacts because there would always be something to see. I like being able to choose when I want to be social, so I choose to keep my “Flickr friends” in my feed reader.

Integrated del.icio.us via the bookmark star

Granted, the integration with del.icio.us is a good idea, I don’t know that I like the bookmarks tool bar and my public del.icio.us account going through the same interface. I like to click and know what’s happening without having to think about it. A lot of my clicking is based on intuition, and I don’t need a choice everytime I post a bookmark as to whether or not it’s tool bar worthy. And if it is, what section of the tool bar? Personally, I prefer my 11 folders where I can easily drag a tab to the appropriate folder (i.e., less clicks—in fact, no clicks). Plus, I have both ma.gnolia and del.icio.us extensions, and I use them interchangeably. They’re side-by-side next to the address bar, subtle, convenient, and have nothing to do with my bookmarks tool bar.

Aesthetics

A lot of people are hung up on the aesthetics of Flock, but I actually think Firefox 2.0 (and 1.5) looks better. The tabs feel cheap in Flock (to me). And I love the way Firefox has managed to make less use of the tool bar / address bar area, giving you more room to browse—which is important to me. Now, with Firefox 2.0, there’s no chance I’ll leave. The subtle interfaces changes are great, the scrolling tabs are nice (as well as the tab selection drop down), and most importantly, the built-in browser spell checker! That alone seals the deal.

Conclusions

Probably the number one reply I get when I say I’m not leaving Firefox for Flock is “Why? It essentially is Firefox.” Then why not just use Firefox? It has done absolutely nothing wrong, and to be quite honest, it’s the one and only browser for web developer’s. Flock may finally support the web developer tool bar, Firebug, IETab, HTML validator, ImageSizer, etc., etc., but something just doesn’t feel right to me.

So, I’m an avid Firefox user, with over 25 extensions, 120-135 tool bar bookmarks, 7-10 greasemonkey scripts, completely synced up on all computers, backed by Google, so on and so forth. But at the end of the day, it boils down to personal choice. I choose Firefox for all of the reasons I’ve stated and more, but maybe above all, why would I switch? There isn’t near enough value add for me to convert my bookmarks, scripts, extensions, etc. to Flock, just so I can take a chance on a browser that has already failed me once. It’s just not worth it. I’m glad Flock exists, because a lot of people seem to really, really love it. And that’s important. Plus, it’s sheer existence actually can do something for me: make Firefox even better!