Firefox Addon of the Week: Weave Browser Sync

Posted 03/09/2010 at 8:02am | by David Murphy

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For the longest time, Xmarks has been my Firefox bookmark synchronization tool of choice.  I've been using it forever, and I can't recall the last time it's presented me with any kind of problem--that's because it never has.  Simply put, Xmarks is an amazing tool for keeping your bookmarks in check across multiple installations of the Firefox browser.

But this post isn't about Xmarks.  Mozilla itself has released its own synchronization tool dubbed "Weave Browser Sync," and it offers up even more possibilities than the trusty ol' Xmarks add-on.  So why am I not fawning over this extension outright and declaring it to be the greatest browser synchronization tool since the sliced bread, er, synchronization utility?  Well, a few stability issues reported by other Firefox users have left me a bit cautious to suggest that Weave is the answer to all of your dreams.  It's certainly worth trying out, just don't put all your eggs in your woven basket should it not ultimately work on your browser--or worse, accidentally nuke your bookmarks.

Here's the deal.  I haven't had any problems with Weave's synchronization features myself.  In a few cross-platform tests, the browser add-on was able to correctly sync over my bookmarks, history, preferences, tabs, and saved passwords.  That's a pretty hefty list compared to Xmarks, which only really synchronizes passwords and bookmarks.  Weave's tabs synchronization is an especially killer feature--you'll feel like you're browsing with one, unified session no matter what system you're accessing Firefox from.  Couple this up with BarTab, and you have a super-powerful setup for tabbed browsing.

As I mentioned, a number of users have had a bit of trouble getting Weave to work.  The add-on offers enough to make it worth the recommendation.  However, I'd be remiss in my abilities as a reviewer if I didn't mention this fact--be sure to back up your bookmarks prior to installing Weave in case the add-on doesn't work out as well as you would have preferred.

Maximum PC picks one new Firefox add-on as its favorite of the week each... week. Have a nifty extension that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.