Google Browser sync: continuing the march of Google software onto my desktop, now comes Google Browser Sync, which will sync bookmarks, history, cookies, passwords and other settings between two or more copies of the Firefox browser.

Browser syncing is nifty in my humble opinion. One of the reasons I keep my $100 annual .Mac subscription is that it keeps my copies of the Safari browser in sync. So when my loving spouse kicks me off our big-screen Mac G5, I can move over to the Mac Mini and all my bookmarks await.

Indeed, I had tried to set up our home Macs for network log-in so that any user could have all their files, email and browser configs wherever they happened to sit for a computer session. Unfortunately, not I or any number of very helpful Net friends could actually get it to work on Mac OS X 10.4 server. When the user logs in, most of the time they are presented with a home directory that has very odd permissions, and which won't allow files to be written thus sopping the browser and most other apps from running.

I stopped weeks of tinkering with OS X server when I realized that by setting up browser sync, and configuring my mail server to keep a few days worth of mail around, I could get many of the benefits of network log-in without having to struggle with what has become a very complex server product (Mac OS X server bears little resemblance to AppleShare of old). Indeed, I am more proficient at configuring some versions of Linux than Mac OS X server, despite Apple's claim that OS X server is 'open source made easy.'

An interesting side benefit of Google Browser sync is that it works cross-platform. I'll be able to sync the browser on my Linux system to the browser on my Mac (as soon as I update it to version 1.5, that is). So now the question is, how much do I trust Google with data about what I look at on the web? I am already, de facto, trusting Apple...
Comments 9:22:11 AM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures