Foxmarks has been offering their synchronization solution quite some time, but until now their service has been limited to bookmarks. They gained a good reputation and a decent user base even with the more limited set of features as their service was proven to be quick and more reliable than the competition (Google Browser Sync, and especially Weave). Now with password synchronization included their service is top notch in every way.

Like in all browser synchronization services, the idea of Foxmarks is simple. It takes your Firefox personal data, encrypts it with 256bit encryption algorithm using a PIN-code that only you will know, and uploads the content to a Foxmark’s server. In case you do not want to use Fomark’s server to store your private data you can also setup your own.  When you setup Foxmarks to another Firefox client, you will be asked whether to merge the bookmarks and passwords, use the server data, or use the client data. Afterwards it keeps track of changes in the clients and synchronized them with the server periodically. The server will also act as a complete backup of your browser data in case you happen to lose a Firefox browser setup for one reason or another (hardware failure, reinstalling the system…). Foxmarks also offers the bookmarks available online via their web based service.

Check them out at: Foxmarks.com

The fact that Google seems to have abandoned Google Browser Sync has caused a lot of angry comments and blog posts, and I can fully understand why. Once you have used to the comfort of synchronizing your web browsers, it is very hard to live without it. There are some alternatives to Browser Sync, such as Foxmarks or Opera, but the common problem is that they do not synchronize passwords. And when one is sharing his passwords online, security and reputability issues of the service come into consideration.

Therefore I was delighted to first learn about Mozilla Weave, even though the earlier alpha versions did not work very well. But today my Firefox 3 let me know that Weave has been updated to version 0.2 and now it seems like something I dare to share it with you guys.

Weave does exactly what Browser Sync has been doing for couple of years – it synchronizes your browser’s personal data. Your private information is secured by a login name, password, and encryption passphrase, so the securiy aspects seem pretty solid. Mozilla as an entity also seems like a trustworthy service provider, not likely to grab your

personal information for their own benefit. What makes Weave different from Google Browser Sync is that Mozilla is working on some web based service models on top of it, possibly with some trendy social elements on the side. We have already seen similar services made for mobile phones, such as the Zyb.com (well worth a look too), which was apparently so good that Vodafone bought it.

So in other words, while there may not be Google Browser Sync for Firefox 3 ever availble, the Weave may turn out to be a sufficient replacement. After playing around with the recent v0.2 it seems to work pretty well, at least in my setup, and synchronizes my browsers as expected. The performance however seems to have some room for improvement, but I trust that it will get better in future versions. Certainly a project worth watching closely.

Get Weave: https://services.mozilla.com/