Comments on: Becoming OS Agnostic

By: Wy

Wy — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:58:35 +0000

For gmail backup .. maybe you can run fetchmail on a linux machine to snog all the gmail stuff? It doesn't delete it from the server, after all.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:49:22 +0000

I swear by NNW and NewsGator online. Its just superb. The free version works with NNWLite too. You dont have to pay anything. At least I dont :-/

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:37:41 +0000

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Eric: I'll look at the full NNW with NewsGator online as an option. I think RSS and POP are viable backup options, so that makes the transition a bit less scary.

Mithras: At first glance, Netvibes looks like a custom portal more than a full-fledged RSS reader, so it may not have all the tools or UI I'm used to. And maybe you're right about reading things other than RSS feeds when offline. I'll have to look into it :)

Plaid Cow: I know it's probably not as easy as it should be, but at the very least you can run the same pool of applications on both machines and so you can migrate preferences and other data items as-is instead of having to jump through hoops getting everything to be the same.

AC: I've had a Bloglines account for ages now, but it currently only has two or so feeds in it and I haven't used it in forever. The ability to sync with NNW makes NewsGator a much more viable option than Bloglines, regardless of mindshare. I doubt I'll find something as fast as NNW on the desktop, so the ability to sync feed status is a nice consolation prize.

By: AC

AC — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:46:54 +0000

For what it's worth, Bloglines seems to get more mindshare than Newsgator (sorry, don't have a link handy to confirm) — and they have a small screen version that you can use on your mobile without any additional software.

I definitely hear you on NNN, though — nothing beats blasting through 300 headlines in a couple of minutes :->

By: The Plaid Cow

The Plaid Cow — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:51:25 +0000

Being OS agnostic just adds another layer to it, but trying to do all of this on two different macs isn't as easy as it should be either.

By: Mithras

Mithras — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:43:42 +0000

Also: maybe reading something other than RSS when you're offline will be a good thing :)

By: Mithras

Mithras — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:42:40 +0000

Have you tried Netvibes.com? I migrated there from NNW a couple of months ago, and I'm crazy about it. One quick login, and I have a multi-tabbed page with all of my favorite feeds, an integrated podcast tuner, plus webcal and Writely access to boot.

I do greatly prefer using the 'Open directly in site' option with a tabbed browser, rather than using the integrated reader interface.

By: Eric Blair

Eric Blair — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:33:03 +0000

I take it you were running the Lite version of NNW? Otherwise, you'd have an NNW and NewsGator online subscription for the next 2 years. I'ev actually been using that combination since I started a job where I can't bring my PowerBook to the office - it works pretty well. There are some snags in terms of sync status (I notice a few read posts appearing as unread, but the vast majority of the time it Just Works). I can access my feeds from anywhere and then have them saved to my desktop using NNW's persistence feature.

Every GCal calendar has a static URL for the ical file associated with it. You could setup a script that backs the file up to your hard drive.

For GMail, I'd say that POP might be your best backup option. Setup a client like Mail to download your mail but leave it on the server.

By: Hawk Wings » Blog Archive » A double life: OS X, Windows, productivity, email

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:03:25 +0000

[...] Martin Gordon raises an interesting question . [...]