Once you've decided to use more than one browser, you can treat each one independently (giving each distinct settings and bookmark lists) if you prefer. However, unless you dedicate each browser to a specific site or task (for example, to ), you'll probably want to share at least some kinds of information between browsers. Here are the top areas where you'll want to keep your browsers in sync:

If you let Safari remember user names and passwords for Web sites you visit (choose Safari -> Preferences, click AutoFill, and select the User Names And Passwords checkbox), it stores this information in your keychain. Other WebKit-based browsers such as The Omni Group's free ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ) (and Devon Technologies' $50 ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice ) can then access those same credentials, and so can Camino (even though it uses the Gecko rendering engine). However, all the other Gecko-based browsers--including Firefox and ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice )--store credentials independently, as does ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ).

If you want a single, system-wide repository for Web site passwords that works in virtually every browser, install Agile Web Software's $40 , which supports most popular browsers (as well as the RSS reader ) and also includes tools for creating strong passwords, storing secure notes, and keeping track of data such as software licenses and credit card and bank account information.