Firefox 11 Will Have Better Syncing Capabilities

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 17 Jan 2012

With Firefox Sync in the latest version of Firefox, that would be Firefox 9.0, you can keep bookmarks, passwords, preferences, history, and tabs synced across devices. This means that if you bookmark a site on your work computer, that bookmark will show up on your home computer thanks to Firefox Sync.

Mozilla said that it will keep making Firefox Sync better and better until Sync will eventually be able to keep your entire Firefox experience in sync. The upcoming Firefox 11, which is penciled in a for a spring 2012 release, stays true to this concept and enhances Sync’s capabilities. On top of passwords, preferences, history, and tabs, Firefox 11 will be able to sync your add-ons as well.

Switching focus on the competition, Google’s Chrome browser can keep your browsing experience synced as well. The difference is that Chrome’s syncing capabilities already delivers what Firefox promises to offer with v. 11. Sign into your Google Account and Chrome will sync your autofill info, omnibox history, bookmarks, passwords, preferences, themes, apps, and extensions (extensions are the equivalent of add-ons).

Another thing that deserves mentioning is that Chrome syncs themes as well. Firefox does not currently sync Personas (which are basically skins that help you customize the way the browser looks).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to argue that Chrome is better than Firefox. I’m just saying that it’s nice to see that Firefox’s syncing capabilities are getting better – even if that means it’s catching up to the competition. Competition fosters innovation.

Getting back to Firefox, if you haven’t used Sync until now, you are very well advised to start now – especially if you browse the web on multiple devices. Click on Tools, then on Options, then on the Sync icon, and last but not least on Set Up Firefox Sync. Then follow the instructions to set up an Sync. For additional info check out this help article.



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