WS_FTP Professional 2006 review

Christian Harris ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 06 Jul 2005

WS_FTP Professional 2006 is one of the most secure ways to transfer files. This mature FTP client includes advanced security (SSL, SSH and PGP) and file management -- everything you would expect from an FTP client. In addition, security and transfer options now provide up to 256-bit encryption and support for HTTP and HTTPS transfers; there’s also OpenPGP public key/private key encryption, extensive protocol support, email notifications and a new compression utility that allows you to zip and unzip files on the fly.

FTP applications aren’t exactly glamorous, but they’re essential for serious file-transfer tasks. WS_FTP Professional 2006 retains the refined XP-style look-and-feel found in WS_FTP Professional 9.0 (the menu bar, tool bar, connection bar, connection pane and information window all remain), but some may find its sheer number of features a little daunting. On the plus side, there are several options for customising the interface, and drag-and-drop functionality makes file transfers intuitive.

The new version is not a major upgrade, but it does offer additional security and protocol support, as well as the ability to securely manage any kind of digital files. The software also enables application developers to create secure, data-movement-aware applications such as data collection applications, and integrate them into workflow processes. The new email notification feature allows you to initiate simple workflows and share knowledge about data movement with others in your organisation.

A key new feature is the addition of workspaces. These allow you to set up, use and retrieve views that comprise specific directories on multiple servers, as well as locally (complex folder and file structures can be hidden from the user). There’s also a new compression mode that lets you automatically convert files to ZIP archives before uploading, in addition to choosing the level of compression, preserving path names in the archive file and password-protecting ZIP files.

WS_FTP Professional 2006 builds on its predecessor by using 256-bit AES encryption for SSL and PGP. The PGP Export wizard now allows you to export a key pair, there’s support for TLS session caching and SSL configuration now allows selection of acceptable ciphers. There's UPnP support for Windows XP, quick-connect options for disabling password saving and clearing connection history, AUTH TLS support, and support for transfers over HTTP and HTTPS.

Workspaces now allow you to save frequently used local and remote connection configurations; folder linking provides synchronised folder navigation between two folder views; Auto Retry for failed transfers now allows for a retry delay; file size display can be in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes or Auto; connection status is now displayed in the status bar; and the Site Import wizard now supports CuteFTP, FTP Voyager and WS_FTP LE.

We also liked the tweaked Transfer Manager, which now displays textual errors, while the ability to change the look and feel of the software using skins (based on WindowBlinds technology) is a nice touch. The tab customisation lets you change the tab colour, name and other site options, and the auto-detection of time differences allows more accurate views of local and remote timestamps.

Finally, you can create thumbnails for your images before uploading, and you can save frequent transfers as Windows shortcuts for one-click access.

You can download a free 30-day trial of WS_FTP Professional 2006 here.

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