Flock to Open Office - New Software Releases

Flock

Flock is a new generation of browser which is based on Firefox. Just a few new features:
- bookmarks are saved online (on del.icio.us) instead of in the browser
- integrated posting to blogs. In fact, you can get a free WordPress.com blog (no invitation required) if you download Flock
- a few other things, like Flickr integration. Check out 13 things you can do with Flock (and how to do them).

Flock preview release did not impress me much but it is worth a try even if only to get a free WordPress.com blog.

Read a complete review with screen shots on PaulStamatiou.com and NewsForge. Apparently, Flock was developed by a group of 10 guys in a garage in Palo Alto, California. It is all about Web 2.0 (via oreillynet.com).

Open Office

OO 2.0 was just released and it works on all platforms - Win, Mac and Linux. "Big" clients (programs), like MS Word and OO may soon be a thing of the past for the casual user. Check out the online word processor Writely to see what I am talking about. Writely is a "thin" client that allows collaboration of multiple users which is great if you are writing an article or finalizing a protocol.

WordPress.com Blogs

WordPress works very nicely actually. I used it to create the alumni web page for the internal medicine residency program of Case Western Reserve University (St. Vincent/St. Lukes).
All entries are password protected which is something not possible on Blogger. Also, search is integrated in the blog template and shows results as you type.

Just as Mike Torres writes: "You can blog on MSN Spaces, but MSN Spaces is not just a blogging service."

References:
Flock Web Browser Eases Multitasking But Has Drawbacks. WSJ, 2008.
Image sources: openoffice.org, wordpress.com

Updated: 08/06/2008