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Firefox Software

Bookmark Syncing Service Xmarks Closes For Good On May 1 (betanews.com) 51

Remember that popular browser extension that let you sync your bookmarks on multiple devices? Launched in 2006 by Foxmarks (a company created by EFF co-founder Mitch Kapor), it was saved from death in 2010 when it was acquired by the password-management service LastPass. But now BetaNews reports: If you're a user of Xmarks, there's some bad news for you -- the service is closing down... The bookmark syncing tool, which is available as an addon for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, is to be shuttered on May 1... Emails have also been sent out to registered users notifying them of the impending closure.

"On May 1, 2018, we will be shutting down Xmarks... After this date, your bookmarks should remain available in any previously accessed browser, but they will no longer sync and your Xmarks account will be deactivated... After careful consideration and evaluation, we have decided to discontinue the Xmarks solution so that we can continue to focus on offering the best possible password vaulting to our community."

It was apparently especially popular with long-time Slashdot reader vm, who writes "I have held on to my Xmarks account over the years because I can always get to them despite changes in operating systems, browsers, employers, etc.

"What do other folks use that may also have a mobile option?"
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Bookmark Syncing Service Xmarks Closes For Good On May 1

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  • I sold my soul... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dbrueck ( 1872018 ) on Saturday April 28, 2018 @09:58AM (#56519109)

    ... and just use Google Chrome everywhere, and so bookmark syncing is built in (and works great).

    • Yep, that's how I do it. I long ago stopped Xmarks precisely because Chrome did it all 'in browser.'

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by ColdWetDog ( 752185 )

        The nice thing about X-marks is that it is cross browser. That made it easy to sync most anytime (except when you were using Lynx or Emacs).

        That said, I haven't used X-marks in years. Between a smartphone and a lap top, I don't need to have my personal bookmarks anywhere near my work ones.

    • by Alumoi ( 1321661 )

      ... and just use Google Chrome everywhere, and so bookmark syncing is built in (and works great).

      ... even with NSA, FBI, CIA, GHQ, MI5, SIS ...

      • LOL. Yes, I'm sure that of all the ways our info leaks online, and of all the ways we can be tracked online, the one those agencies rely on is the Google subsystem that stores my bookmarks.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Iâ(TM)ve been using pinboard.in since itâ(TM)s early days. They started as a del.icio.us clone with a good business model and last year acquired delicious. Canâ(TM)t say enough good things about this service.

    https://blog.pinboard.in/blog/

  • by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Saturday April 28, 2018 @10:16AM (#56519203)
    ... Firefox's switch to the new API. I could never get it to work correctly after the API changed. Judging from the comment section on the Mozilla Add-Ons page for XMarks, only a few people seems to be able to get it to work without messing up their bookmarks everywhere.

    .
    XMarks was an excellent, even superb, product in its heyday. I wonder whatever happened to them?

  • Obsolete project.

  • by Zombie Ryushu ( 803103 ) on Saturday April 28, 2018 @10:31AM (#56519257)

    I used it with eGroupware. I normally selected the "Sync with your own Server" Option that stored the Book Marks in a JSON File over DAV in eGroupware on my local domain controllers. Thw issue became, it started to update itself to disable that functionality whenever it could in favor of LastPass. I'd still like to get the whole "Sync on your own Server" Functionality as a JSON file if possible.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    I've never used one of these bookmark syncing services, but admittedly I'd love to. I am reading of a lot of options on the comments here but, as a security researcher and privacy advocate, I wonder: are these services able to read your bookmarks? Because that would be a big no-no for me.

    Ideally these services should store an encrypted database of your bookmarks, and the user only inserts their password locally (i.e. when they set up the client/browser extension on a new device). Possibly the size of the da

  • I use Chrome and Firefox sync, with Eversync bridging across. Mobile and desktops stay managed quite nicely.

    • I use Chrome and Firefox for different things, so I don't care that their bookmarks aren't jumbled together.

  • The killer feature for me from XMarks was the ability to browse the list of open tabs on my various browsers, especially from my phone. That made it easy for me to be reading something, then later continue reading it from my phone.

    If anyone knows of another service that does this, please let me know. I use Chrome at home and am forced to use Firefox at work, so I do need a cross-platform solution.

  • I liked Xmarks because I like running different Linux distros off of live media. Most of them included Firefox as the default web browser. Adding Xmarks was a quick, easy, and reliable way to get your bookmarks into Firefox. I also have a bunch of Linux distros installed on my hard drive and Xmarks was a good way to synchronize bookmarks between them. So I'll miss it when it's gone.

    As someone else mentioned, Xmarks wasn't the same after Firefox switched to the "WebExtensions" API. For example, among other t

  • No Keyword Sync led to its demise no doubt, which will soon happen to Chrome and FF clowns. Viva Vivald (with keywords but lousy Sync still )i !
  • I have a file named bookmarks.html. I update it with vim as needed.

    That file is set as the home page on all of my web browsers.

    So all you need is a webserver to keep it on and point your home page to that (if you want it automatically updated to all of your devices), or just copy it across to each device.

    I just copy it between devices because my bookmarks don't change very often.

  • Wasn't last pass recently bought by Log Me In who's current business practice is double their prices every year.

    We have been looking for a corporate password manager, and last pass was a contender until we found out who owned them.

    • by Que_Ball ( 44131 )
      Correct.
      Lastpass is now firmly in control of the price doubling jerks at Logmein.

      There has been 1 doubling of price for Lastpass since being bought. Next one is likely still 6-9 months until being announced if the pattern holds

      I think Logmein main product now costs a few billion dollars per computer but I have not checked recently. I switched when my Logmein central went from $150 to over $10,000.

      The product was always excellent but the guys in management. I just have to assume some kind of corporate versio
    • by chrish ( 4714 )

      I switched to EnPass when this happened; it's actually more secure than LastPass because nobody else can read your passwords... they're stored in the cloud of your choice, but the file is encrypted/decrypted entirely on the clients... the EnPass folks have literally no way of reading your database.

      The desktop is free, which might be (paradoxically) a problem for dumb orgs. Mobile version is something like $10 per platform.

      I really like it.

    • We use 1Password. It's expensive, but IMO it's the most polished product of the lot. The most important part is that the the data is synced to a local application, which in turn syncs with the server. The browser plugins link securely to the local app, so there's no concern about MITM attacks if the browser gets compromised.

      Also, unlike Enpass, it has been independently audited and supports multiple vaults.

  • There was a point in time when you could use Foxmarks but keep all the information required for synching on a machine under your own control. When that feature was taken away (quite a long time ago, obviously), I stopped using it.

    It's too bad they haven't chosen to release the source code on this - it seems like something a community would be willing to keep going. But I imagine at this point there'd be so much crap in the code - mostly centered around failed monetization attempts - it would be quite a chor

  • I have used xmarks for 10 years. It was one of the best addons out there. the first one I install on all of my computers and browsers. I tend to use more than one browser and tend to play around with different linux distros so it was a godsend for my bookmarks.

    I have been playing around with eversync lately once I heard that xmarks was shutting down. It is not xmarks but from all the different extensions and addons I tried, at this point, it is the closest to xmarks. I hope someone will either purchase the

  • I haven't bothered saving bookmarks in over twenty years. Any hostname I can't memorize I just use a search engine for.

  • I asked this a few weeks ago,

    I *specifically* paid, up front for 10 years of Xmarks and 10 years of Lastpass at the same time, when I heard those Logmein bastards had purchased them.

    That was, I think about 2 years ago. I've got somewhere between 7 and 8.5 years left (I can't recall)
    Now, if I recall the pricing model, I think it was 12$ each per year, discounted if you buy rolled together.

    I want to know, am I going to get 7 MORE years of Lastpass on my account at the rates which I had previously paid, or ar

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