November 30, 2010

Five Best FTP Clients

Whether you do your work on the web, run a home FTP server, or you just prefer a quick download from time to time, a solid, full-featured FTP client can be a lifesaver. You've got tons of options-both free and shareware-for your FTP needs, so finding the right FTP client can be difficult. On Tuesday you shared your favorite FTP clients, and today we're back with the five most popular choices. Read on for a detailed look at the five best FTP clients for your money, then cast your vote for the app you like best.

WinSCP (Windows)

WinSCP, aka Windows Secure Copy, is a free, open-source FTP client. Supporting both SFTP and SCP protocols (upshot: secure transfers), WinSCP is fast and lightweight while still supporting advanced features like remote text editing. When you open a plain text file, WinSCP can open the file in your text editor of choice. Every time you save the file, it transparently saves and uploads the changes to the remote server. Added bonus: a portable version is available. WinSCP's synchronized browsing feature is also worth a look.

Transmit (Mac OS X)

Transmit is a shareware ($30) FTP client packed to the brim with innovative features. It covers all of the usual suspects, including remote file editing and folder sync, and it's also got tons of Mac-centric features like a Dashboard widget, .Mac syncing of your favorites (bookmarked FTP servers), droplets for quick drag-and-drop uploading to favorite locations, inline previews, and Automator support. Transmit can even do server-to-server transfers from one server's tab to another's. Despite its $30 price tag, Transmit has even got some Windows users wishing for their own version.

FireFTP (All Platforms with Firefox)

fireftp.png FireFTP is a Firefox extension that integrates a powerful FTP client directly into our favorite browser. FireFTP isn't the most feature-rich client of the bunch, but if all you need is a simple FTP client for the occasional upload or download, FireFTP is more than up for the job. Even better: You don't have to install a separate program for FTP, since it all runs from the warm and fuzzy comfort of the 'fox. If you're running Firefox Portable on your thumb drive, you can take FireFTP with you wherever you go.

FileZilla (All Platforms)

FileZilla is a free, open-source FTP client for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Due to its price tag (or lack thereof), cross-platform support, and ease of use, FileZilla is a go-to option for many users new to FTP. Users stick around because FileZilla is a fast, full-featured (it also has remote file editing), and reliable FTP client in constant development. There's even a portable version you can toss on your thumb drive to use FileZilla on the go. Finally, if you're a Windows user you can even use FileZilla to build your own home FTP server.

Cyberduck (Mac OS X)

Cyberduck is a free, open-source FTP client for Mac OS X with support for most of the usual suspects in transfer protocols in addition to WebDAV and Amazon S3. It also supports Quick Look, Growl, and remote editing with your text editor of choice. Mac users who aren't happy with FileZilla and don't want to shell out any cash for Transmit can flock to the duck for full-featured FTP and then some.


Now that you've seen the best, it's time to warm up your clicking finger and pick a favorite.

Which Is the Best FTP Client? (Poll Closed)

Cyberduck 9% (396 votes) FileZilla 52% (2234 votes) FireFTP 10% (417 votes) Transmit 8% (342 votes) WinSCP 11% (490 votes) Other 10% (431 votes)

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Total Votes: 4310

Honorable mentions go out to SmartFTP, FlashFXP, CuteFTP, and WS_FTP. Got more to say about your FTP client of choice that you can't get across in a poll? Let's hear about it in the comments.

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Format a USB Drive as NTFS in Windows XP

Windows XP only: Today's USB flash drives are huge, but they come formatted with the FAT32 limit of 4GB files—if you want to format them as NTFS under Windows XP you'll need a little trick.

Windows XP does have the ability to format drives with the NTFS file system, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the format dialog—normally the option is disabled. To enable it, open up Device Manager and find your viagra best prices USB drive, go to the Properties -> Policies tab and then choose "Optimize for performance". Once you've done this, you'll see the NTFS option in the format dialog.

Readers should be warned, however, that once you've enabled write caching you will need to use the Safely Remove Hardware dialog to avoid losing data—though once you format the drive as NTFS you can switch the write caching back off.

The choice between NTFS and FAT32 isn't cut-and-dry—while NTFS does allow larger file sizes, encryption, compression, and permissions, there's a lot more overhead to using it—and more importantly it won't really work on non-Windows systems. Hit the link for the full walk-through and more information about the pros and cons.

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November 29, 2010

Windows 7 Creates New Folders With a Hotkey

Good news, keyboard-shortcut lovers! Windows 7 finally includes the ability to add new folders from the keyboard with a shortcut key combination.

To create a new folder, simply press Ctrl+Shift+N with an explorer viagra australia no prescription window open and the folder will instantly show up, ready to be renamed to something more useful. You can also create a shortcut on your desktop by minimizing all open windows or using the Win+D combination to show the desktop, and then just hit the new folder shortcut key to create a new folder. It's a tiny, but extremely useful tip—though if you prefer the mouse you'll be happy to know that Windows 7 includes a New Folder button as well.

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