Xmarks Shutting Down: Try These Four Free Alternatives

Xmarks, one of my all-time favorite browser add-ons, is shutting down.

A moment of silence, please.

I've used this service for as long as I can remember, starting back when it was a Firefox-only extension known as Foxmarks. It quickly and effortlessly kept my bookmarks (and, later, passwords) in sync across multiple PCs.

Come January 10, 2011, Xmarks will sync no more. Fortunately, there are alternatives. Firefox users can look to Firefox Sync, the Mozilla-built tool that mimics (and in some ways exceeds) Xmarks. It's not as easy to configure or use, IMHO, but it gets the job done.

The Internet Explorer crowd should look to the latest version of Windows Live Sync (currently in beta), which now syncs not only files and folders, but also program settings and -- wait for it -- IE favorites.

Google Chrome users can take advantage of Chrome Sync. As for Safari, Xmarks recommends Apple's $99/year MobileMe service, but one user figured out how to use Dropbox to sync Safari bookmarks.

Just one problem with all of these solutions: not one of them offers cross-platform synchronization. Want to share your IE favorites at work with, say, your Firefox favorites at home? Tough luck. Sigh.

So, what happened to Xmarks? Basically, they ran out of money. I don't know about you, but I'd gladly pay to keep the service up and running -- and I don't like paying for anything. I wish the developers would at least poll their users to see if others agree. Hey, I'll start: