Since it will take a while to migrate over to an “All Ubuntu All the Time” (well, almost) setup, I needed a way to keep things available no matter which OS I’m currently logged into: old WinXP, new WinXP, or Ubuntu. I’ve been using Google Docs to record notes and research that I want available across platforms, but I also wanted a way to keep my Firefox bookmarks in sync. Especially important was syncing Firefox 3’s bookmark tags, since I don’t even bother sorting my bookmarks anymore. I just tag them and leave them in the ‘Unsorted Bookmarks’ folder.
Enter Xmarks! Xmarks used to be called Foxmarks, and was initially just available as an add-on for Firefox. But it’s expanded to include all four major browsers: Firefox, IE, Safari, and Chrome. Right now I’m just using the Firefox plug-in, but I’m planning to test out the cross-browser sync capabilities as well, since I occasionally use IE or Chrome.
Anyway, installing and setting it up was a snap. I started with my new Ubuntu installation, and installed the Firefox add-on directly from Mozilla. After restarting Firefox, I was asked whether I already had an account with Xmarks. I said no and was prompted to create an account, after which my bookmarks were synced to the Xmarks server.
I then booted back into my old WinXP install, where all my bookmarks were still stored. After installing the add-on, I provided Xmarks with the login credentials I’d just created. At this point, Xmarks offered to merge my local bookmarks with the ones already synced to their server (from my Ubuntu install). Nice and easy.
Now I have my bookmarks synced across all my OS installs, and I have a constant backup to the cloud in case I lose my system for any reason.