Paul's Time Sink

Paul Westbrook | 03 October, 2007 00:22

I have switched my main computer from a Mac Book Pro to a laptop running Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon. I have been pretty pleased with this switch.

There were a few things that made the transition easier:

Google Bookmark Sync - As soon as I installed this extension, all of my bookmarks, passwords, cookies, and history appear in the new installation of Firefox.
Web based applications - I have been used web based applications for things that are normally desktop applications. For example, I use the web interface of Google Mail and Calendar for mail and calendar. I use Remember the Milk for to do list. And Google Docs for word processing and spreadsheets.
JungleDisk - Since I used JungleDisk to back up my home directory from my Mac Book Pro, I it was easy to copy all of that data down. Also it is very easy to transfer files between the computers

There are still a few things that I miss that are available on Mac OS X

A good password manager - On Mac OS X, 1Passwd is great. It integrates with all browsers, and it uses the built-in keychain. In addition, it will create secure passwords, all from the browser window.
A good MovableType blogging client - ecto is a great application for posting blog entries. I haven't been impressed with the applications listed in the Ubuntu add/remove application.