[Help] Harmonious Synchronization

[Drakow]

Scenario:

I have a Levono laptop with Windows OS as well as an iphone and ipad. I have a set of requirements that I want to be able to perform ideally with all three devices.

Requirements:

I want my E-mails to be synchronized in such a manner that if I perform an action with one device, it will automatically synch to my other devices. So if I read an E-mail from my iphone, the next time I log into my laptop I want that E-mail to have already been marked as read and vice versa etc.

I want to be able to edit any E-mail messages quickly and efficiently - ideally as you would edit a piece of paper by getting a pen and crossing out words and making alterations in that manner. So instead of going to the E-mail, and then going to reply or forward and then making the alterations, it would be ideal if I could go straight to the E-mail get a virtual pen or whatever and scribble the alterations and then send it off.

I want a "To Do List" which automatically synchronizes with all my devices. So I want to be able to add a task or schedule an appointment from my laptop and then be able to see that on my iphone so that I can update the appointment or task if I so wished to do so.

I want Remote Desktop access to my laptop from my Ipad.

I want to be able to view and edit Microsoft Excel and Word documents from my Iphone and Ipad and be able to synchronize and access the edited versions from all my devices.

I want a password manager which works on various different web browsers and devices so that I do not have to remember the numerous different passwords I have. Levono password manager only works on Internet Explorer so this is not an ideal solution.

I want to be able to export my favourites from Internet Explorer and Import them into other web browsers and devices.

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So I was wondering if any of you had any ideas how to best go about fulfilling my requirements.

[Archer]

Email - What you want is an IMAP-based email setup. I know that Gmail does this very well (although, you MAY need to turn it on from within gmail. This means that everything is the same wherever you access it, including which emails you have and haven't read.

To-do lists - if you want shared calendars, your best bet again is using Google Calendars, which can interface with the iOS calendar and, through a small add-on application, Microsoft Outlook. If you just want a simple checklist, then we'll cover that somewhere below.

Remote Access - there are two main ways to do this. You can set up Windows' in-built RDP service, but you'll need to forward ports and whatnot to access it from a different network. Instead, I'd suggest setting up TeamViewer. It's a free program (for 'personal use') which runs on your PC. You can then log in using your TeamViewer account details or the individual PC details via any TeamViewer client. This means you can access it from another computer or even iOS devices (and possible Android). The iOS App is REALLY nice to use compared to RDP and VNC alternatives and is super easy to set up.

Shared Documents - I'd recommend Dropbox for that (there are other cloud storage options, but it's the biggest and best supported). There is a Dropbox app for iOS, which allows you to view the files in your Dropbox, but not edit them directly. You can output them to Pages or whatever, but there are other third-party Office Apps for iOS that can access your Dropbox files directly. Changes are saved and synchronised to all devices whenever you connect to the net.

IE Passwords/Favourites - I refuse to use password managers, but there are definitely some out there that apparently work well. I'll leave that up to the others. Regarding favourites, IE actually saves your faves as a folder full of links, so it's easy to get at (C:/users/{account}/Favourites, I think?). In terms of moving to other browsers, there are tonnes of guides out there. Firefox has an in-built tool if you're a fan of it. If you use Chrome, then Chrome for iOS lets you access your Chrome Bookmarks (although it's under Desktop Bookmarks), provided you have both connected to your Google Account. It's just a shame that Chrome for iOS is slower than Safari. Safari itself doesn't offer much in this regard unless you're prepared to use Safari for Windows - which no-one should be.

Thanks for laying out what you wanted in such a clear and concise matter. Best of luck!