14 DAY TRIAL // Just a little time ago, I felt that it was the time for a new FTP client here, so I started a quick "seek and review" mission. The result is here, and its name is Fresh FTP.
The last version of this program is labeled 3.40 and if you want to know about its licensing type, well, this is a bit strange. Remember Fresh Devices? The same thing happens here - you get a freeware program that you have to register for continuous use, but the registration number is provided for free. All you have to do is ask nicely...and it's yours! The installation kit is only 847KB in size and the program is very easy to setup. Now, we need to find out more about the interface and features, as usual, so let's move on!
The program's interface is simple and very easy to use. There's nothing stunning here, but it won't make you feel like in a monastery either. Most of the interface elements can be shown or hidden as needed - the toolbar, the status bar, text labels, transfer queue and the message log. For a freeware product, what I see is the way it should be. I don't want an eye candy; I want a FTP client that works. Let's take care of that part now...
From what I can see here, Fresh FTP can connect only to regular FTP sites. Anyway, we get a Site Manager to help us save our time and track the favorite FTP servers. You can find it right in the first position of the File menu. For each site you add here, you can set its general options, connection and transfer settings, configure a proxy and check its statistics. The Site Manager is well done and easy to use, so we have a white ball here. Let's move on now.
Most file operations are performed using your mouse or the Local and Remote menus. Since you must know how to drag and drop files already, a few words about those two menus are needed here. Let's suppose you want to upload a file. First, you have to select one or more files from a local folder (I suppose you are already connected to a FTP server), then open the Local menu and choose the Upload Files item. Easy, isn't it?
Other than these, there isn't much to say about this program. Your download and upload tasks can be placed into a queue, but you can't schedule it to start at a certain time. Last interesting things are the Keep Alive feature and the Manual Transfer tool, and if there's something that I've missed, I am sure you will discover it.
The Good
Fresh FTP is a fast and easy to use FTP client that has enough features to make it worthy for users without many requirements from such a program. The best thing about it is the price: 0$, so feel free to "buy" it!
The Bad
Although this is a free program, I would appreciate to see that the links from the Help menu work (or maybe only my Contents menu item doesn't lead anywhere?!) and the interface looks just a bit better and up to date. Support for additional transfer protocols won't hurt, either!
The Truth
Thanks for this, but I am not the one to cheat on my pair, and when talking about free FTP clients, my everlasting love is FileZilla. If you are not using an advanced FTP client yet, then you can go ahead and give Fresh FTP a chance!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
