According to an agreement with the European Commission, Microsoft will give all Windows users in Europe the possibility to choose their favorite browser. From 17 March onwards, an update is delivered showing a ballott screen listing a number of browsers. On an exclusively created website, Microsoft presents all browsers installable for European Windows users. Even exotic browsers have managed to get on the list.

You can view the displayed browsers from now on via the Microsoft website browserchoice.eu. In total, users can choose from 12 different browsers. Each browser entry has a small description and two buttons leading to the direct download and the company website. On the first page, the following 5 browsers are offered prominently:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
• Opera Browser
• Windows Internet Explorer 8

The order how the browsers are shown changes on each page reload, sorted by random. This is how Microsoft meets a requirement by the European Commission stating that all browsers presented to users must be shown in a random order. Using a horizontal scroll bar, you can show the remaining 7 browsers. There are also exotic browsers among them, like:

• Sleipnir
• K-Meleon
• GreenBrowser
• Avant Browser
• Maxthon
• FlashPeak
• Flock

This secondary list of 7 browsers is also sorted by random each time you reload the page.

Flock, the “social Web browser”, has been updated to 2.5 (download Flock 2.5). This version adds support for Facebook Chat right in the browser: you will see the chat toolbar on any website you are currently browsing, as long as you are signed in at Facebook in the background. The chat bar design was not updated to the latest changes Facebook did, but nevertheless it is a great enhancement and helps staying in touch with your friends.

These are the services that Flock supports natively:

Flock is just a fine example of how user-generated content can be incorporated into a browser interface. It seems that the browser as the user’s primary web tool, is a fine place for adding access to social networks right at your fingertips. What I asked myself though when looking at the Flock 2.5 Release Candidate some 1 or 2 weeks ago was, why does Flock not support Windows Live?