14 DAY TRIAL // A week has passed since I had a FTP client on my hands for the last time for reviewing purposes, and I think this is long enough - time for a new one!
Today's choice is called Core FTP Lite, and the version that I have on my hands is 2.0.1469 Beta. The installation kit has 2.8MB in size and the setup process is as easy as possible for beginners and experienced users alike. Even better, you don't have to pay anything for this program in most cases, because it's free for private and educational use. Sounds great, but let's see what can be told about the looks and features, shall we?
The program's interface is simple and very easy to use but, unfortunately, looks outdated and doesn't have anything attractive to it. Don't worry, because the customization capabilities that come with it compensate a part of that, if not all of it. The interface items can be shown or hidden as required, and there are eleven predefined layouts available waiting for you. As usual, with most FTP clients, there's nothing out of ordinary here - you get a menu bar, a toolbar, local and remote file viewers, a transfers panel and a session log window.
Let's talk about available connection types now. From what I can see here, Core FTP Lite can connect to regular FTP sites, but also supports SSL/TLS and SSH/SFTP connections. Right as you open the program for the first time, you are welcomed by the built in Site Manager. There's nothing special about this tool, but I can tell you it's well done and very easy to use, so no problems here!
I was somehow disappointed by the lack of keyboard shortcuts, but the contextual menus corresponding to the local and remote panels are well featured and you won't have any problem with them. Just choose the file(s) and/or folder(s) you want to perform usual operations with and right click to reveal the menu.
Other than these, there's a lot more to discover - a session manager, site to site file transfers, the vital keep alive functionality, remote file searching, support for FTP, HTTP and Socks proxy servers and many more. All these, for free!
Core FTP Lite is more than I expected, and this can only be good news. Let's check the conclusions now!
The Good
Core FTP Lite is fast, easy to use and reliable. Its features are more than enough for most basic user's requirements, but can also satisfy advanced ones. Let's add the "free for personal and educational use" variable into the equation and we're set!
The Bad
I don't understand why the program's interface is stuck in the past, because the feature part is more than just "OK". I hope to see Core FTP Lite in the future with an up to date interface, keyboard shortcuts for common operations and a documentation worthy of the century we're living in.
The Truth
It seems that things won't change this week either - I'll stick with my good old trustworthy FileZilla, but I also advise you to take your time and give Core FTP a chance. Take your time to enjoy this program, and don't forget to share your opinions with us!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
