| First impressions of Google Browser Sync |
by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (Jun. 9, 2006)
Not everyone runs as many "personal" computers as I have -- 24, at last count -- but many of us have both a PC and a laptop. One of the big problems, whether you run two dozen or two PCs, is keeping your Web browser bookmarks and other settings straight. And, when you run more than one operating system, that problem gets worse.
Google is now offering a solution to this problem: Google Browser Sync.
Browser Sync is a Firefox-specific extension that synchronizes your browser settings across computers. Specifically, you can use it to have one common set of Web page history files, persistent cookies, saved passwords, and -- the real deal as far as I'm concerned -- your bookmarks.
Once installed, you can keep all your Firefox browsers in tune with each other with the same set of bookmarks, passwords, cookies, and so on. This can be a great help.
Browser Sync is operating system agnostic. If you can run Firefox 1.5, then you can run the extension. It can do this for two reasons.
The first, is that the software is a Mozilla xpi (pronounced "zippy") file. This contains, in a Phil Katz Zip-compressed format, a JavaScript-based installer along with the program files. These programs work directly with Firefox, not your operating system.
The second reason it can get away with this, is that the heavy lifting of the sync function isn't done on your PC at all. The actual work of storing and managing your settings is done on Google's servers.
To use Browser Sync, therefore, you must also have a Google account. If you use Google Mail, Google Talk, or Google Calendar, you have a Google account.
That sounded good, but will it really work? Over the years, I've seen any number of bookmark management programs on Linux and Windows. I haven't been impressed.
So, to give it a run, I started by installing it on a Windows XP SP2 system running Firefox 1.504 and a SUSE 10.1 PC with Firefox 1.503. Installing it works just like any other Firefox extension. You hit the install button, agree to the privacy agreement, and move right on to the setup wizard.
There, you have the option of synchronizing your bookmarks, passwords, history, cookies, open windows, and tabs. You can opt out of any of these. You also have the option of encrypting any of this data.
If you opt to encrypt anything -- and I recommend that you always do in the case of your passwords -- only the encrypted data goes to Google's servers. The decryption happens on your PC. The program also automatically encrypts your cookies, since an amazing amount of private information can be kept in cookies.
Once installed on both PCs, these systems automatically uploaded and synchronized their settings. The program avoided such pitfalls as duplicating identical bookmarks, and the like. It also assumes that if you have the same bookmark in two different places, you want to keep both of them. It just won't duplicate two of the same bookmark in the same folder.
For example, if you have Linux-Watch as a bookmark -- and you should! -- in the Linux folder in one set of bookmarks, and in the news folder in another, it will not assume that they are the same bookmark. Thus, after syncing your browsers, you'll have two Linux-Watch bookmarks, one in Linux and the other in news.
The same is true of bookmarks that refer to the same site, but have different links. So, for instance, both http://www.desktoplinux.com/ and http://www.desktoplinux.com/index.html go to DesktopLinux.com, but Google Browser Sync will keep both of them.
Consequently, as you add computers, keeping out the junk of doubled bookmarks can be a problem. On the other hand, it gave me the push I needed to finally clean up my bookmarks, since I only had to do it once and then my master bookmark list was synchronized across all my PCs.
I have found this feature to be incredibly useful. Sloppy Web user that I am sometimes, I always had to think for half-a-second when I went to Web sites that weren't wired into my mouse finger by constant use. Now, I find myself able to go right to the sites I want, without that moment of irritating hesitation.
Caveat emptor
The other synchronization features also worked well -- well, a little too well for my taste, to be honest.
Since I'm also using this program now to keep my SUSE 10.1 and Fedora Core 5 powered laptops' Web browsers in sync, I decided that keeping my passwords on the Web, encrypted or not, wasn't the wisest move I could make.
Why? If one of my laptops were to be stolen, anyone who used it could access any of my password-secured Web sites.
That's one "pleasure" I can skip.
For similar reasons, I decided not to keep my Web history online. It might be handy to be able to get to my bank account information a little quicker, but it's not so handy that I want anyone to be able to see it
If you run, as I do, browsers on multiple systems at once, only one browser at a time will have an active Google Browser Sync session. This browser will be whichever one is the most recently started. Still, you can force another browser to become "active," if you wish.
In this case, "active" means that any changes you make to your bookmarks, persistent cookies and the like will automatically be synced with the master records on the Google servers.
Browser startup delay
The only downside to Google Sync that I've found in three days of use, is that when you first start your browser, it will take several seconds to sync up with the master records. Most of this time appeared to be in transferring data rather than checking that the new browser was in order. Since I'm seeing delays in seconds on a 3Mbps downlink ADSL line, I'd hate to think what the delay would be like on a modem connection.
If you decide that you really don't find the extension that useful, you can blow it -- and your online data -- away quite easily. You do it by simply selecting the "Tools" menu and then selecting Extensions > Google Browser Sync > Uninstall. However, you will have to do this from every system you've installed the program too.
For myself, though, the delay in starting my Web browser for keeping all my browsers on the same page is a small price to pay. I think anyone who runs Firefox on multiple platforms, especially multiple operating systems, will find this a must-have Firefox extension.
To try it out, go here.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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