Clients that pattern themselves after the Windows Explorer interface have
inundated the FTP scene as of late, yet a new entrant like AbsoluteFTP can still
make quite an impact despite following the trend. Unlike most of the
competition, AbsoluteFTP presents an Explorer-like view of both the remote
and the local directories. This allows you to easily drag and drop files
between the sites after either tiling or cascading the sites' windows. You can
even launch multiple sessions simultaneously and carry out file operations on
different sites concurrently. Like CuteFTP, AbsoluteFTP gives you an option of
either quickly connecting to a site (via the QuickConnect icon) or selecting
from one of the many sites listed in the Connection Manager. The Connection
Manager comes pre-configured with more than 200 useful and cool FTP sites, and
you can also add your own sites using the intuitive Session Wizard. Another
cool feature in AbsoluteFTP is that it imports your file types from Explorer, so
when you want to view a file on a remote site AbsoluteFTP will automatically run
the application that is associated with the file.
Additional features in AbsoluteFTP include caching of remote host directory
listings, auto-resume for interrupted file transfers Network Neighborhood
support, an abort option, auto hide of dot files, PASV support, and many of the
same features found in the Explorer client (like multiple layout views, quick
sorting options, and property tags for files). While AbsoluteFTP does sport
several features that you won't find in the competition, several important
features that you will find in other FTP clients are noticeably absent in
AbsoluteFTP. The most glaring omissions are file find capabilities, site
synchronization tools, a configurable toolbar, remote file editing capabilities,
firewall/proxy support, options for changing the attributes of a file, support
for macros and custom keyboard commands, site bookmarks, Keep Alive
functionality, and advanced configuration options.
Pros: Allows you to browse multiple sites simultaneously, attractive interface, inexpensive price tag
Cons: Lacks many critical features that are found in competitive FTP clients
For the latest information on AbsoluteFTP, check out:
http://cws.internet.com/32ftp.html#absolftp