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I always enjoy things that make my life easier, and the main reason is that I get more time to spend with myself and the ones around me(my computer is not included!). When talking about FTP clients, there aren't many around that provide a nice collection of freely accessible FTP servers and come with a full pack of features built in like FlashFXP.


Setup

The last stable version of this program is 3.4.0, but 3.4.2 Beta is in also available at this time. Since I am not crazy about Betas, we'll stick to this one. The setup package has 3.8MB in size, and you can test it for free an entire month, without any functional limitation for this period. Installing FlashFXP is not hard at all, but there are more setup stages than with most Windows programs.

Interface

FlashFXP looks very good, and its interface is highly customizable. I can't say that the graphics are outstanding, or that the overall look matches Windows Vista's new interface, because I would lie. In the end, the only thing that really matters is that this program can be easily used by all categories of computer users, and comes with a very nice collection of saved connections that can be easily used to grab various programs, documents or video materials (nothing illegal, I can assure you of that!).


Features

FlashFXP is able to connect to regular FTP servers, as well as secure ones, using SSL. As far as I was able to dig, I couldn't find any way to create connections to HTTP or HTTPS locations, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for most people.

The Site Manager tool is very well done, and gives you the chance to customize a lot of settings for each connection that you save. Obviously, this is also the location that contains those predefined connections that I mentioned already. These are grouped nicely into 7 categories, including Game Sites, Operating Systems, Software Archives or Miscellaneous.

When it comes to file transfers, you can use drag and drop, or the Ctrl+T leyboard shortcut, but I would really like to see that F5 becomes an additional key for this operation, because I am sooo used to the Norton Commander-style shortcuts...

When talking about the rest of the features, FlashFXP has about everything you can think of, from bookmarks to an internal text editor that allows you to edit files located on remote locations. At last, the anti-idle feature should be mentioned. What does this do? Some servers will kick you out after a certain period of inactivity, and to avoid this, the program can send various commands to them so you can remain connected even if you're out, washing your car or walking your dog. Pretty nice, isn't it?


The Good

FlashFXP is small, fast and easy to use for everyone. I know that my mother wouldn't use such a program, but if you need it, I am sure you can handle it. The price of 25$ is a decent one, and while using the program I didn't encounter any error.

The Bad

Since this piece of code is one of those programs that are not far from perfection, I can't ask more than an improved interface, keyboard shortcuts compatible with the classic file-manager scheme and, maybe, support for all connection types available.

Conclusion

When talking about FTP clients, there are two of them in my heart - CuteFTP and the one we're talking about here, FlashFXP. To be honest, it's a really tough decision, especially since their features/price ratio is about the same. In the end, it all gets down to how well a program fits your needs and budget, so take your time to test FlashFXP properly before you decide what to buy.


Developer: iniCom.Networks Inc.
Price: 25$
Trial Link: Download