smartftp

When I started my favorite file transfer app, SmartFTP this morning I discovered to my horror that the software is no longer free. Now, I've been something of a loyalist to the program for years now so I thought about paying for a full licence. However, I then remembered how much I begrudge paying for something that I've been getting for free for years. So I decided to look elsewhere for my FTP needs and came across three cracking alternatives that won't cost you a bean (for now, at least).

I imagine most SmartFTP users will flock to Filezilla as their first choice replacement. The open source software has built something of a reputation for its reliability, speed, and ability to manage large file transfers. What's great about the program is that you can set both local and remote filters for things like images, explorer files or CVS and SVN directories or even create your own. FileZilla also includes a tool to compare directories in terms of file size or modification time.

Core FTP Lite is another popular free FTP client. It's pretty easy to handle thanks to its straightforward drag-and-drop interface, and there's a bunch of cool features such as auto retry of failed transfers, bandwidth control throttle, remote file searching and .htaccess/.htpasswd editing. Core FTP is probably best known for its superb security features though, and the free app supports a wide range of security protocols.

Both of these aforementioned tools make for decent alternatives to SmartFTP. However, for sheer convenience I ended up plumping for FireFTP, a neat Firefox plug-in that gives you handy access to FTP servers from within your browser. While perhaps not as fully-featured as the other two stand-alone apps, I reckon FireFTP has more than enough for the average home user and the ability to call upon it at any time from your Bookmarks Toolbar makes it a real winner for me.

In this switchers series, I look for the best PC program in its category, find a Mac counterpart, and explain why it's better, all in the hope that those of you that are still on PC will be tempted to switch, and those that are on Mac hopefully discover something new. We started off last week by looking at common computer tasks, like communicating with friends, exchanging emails or burning discs. It's now time to take this series a little deeper and compare more specific PC and Mac applications. Today I want to focus on programs only related to internet, albeit without counting browsers, messengers and mail clients as these were already covered last week.

The term 'internet application' is pretty vague, especially nowadays when we are connected most of the time anyways.  This is why I've limited this list to very specific applications: BitTorrent clients, P2P tools, download managers, RSS readers, Usenet clients and FTP programs. I've tried to pick what I consider the best application in each category for both Mac and PC, however give a shout if you think there is a better program than the one mentioned.

• uTorrent - Transmission - uTorrent is fast, lightweight and gives you extensive information on torrents. Transmission does all that AND has a speed limit mode, filtering and priority settings.
• Ares Galaxy - Acquisition - It's no surprise that Ares is so popular with PC users. It offers a large network, is fast and responsive and isn't bogged down in features. Acquistion can search both the Gnutella and BitTorrent networks and has a beautiful and structured interface.
• Internet Download Manager - Leech - Heavy duty downloaders will like having a program to handle all their files. Leech keeps downloads well organized, adds password protection and lets you mark URLs for future downloads.
• Abilon - Times - News junkies will appreciate having a powerful desktop RSS reader. While Abilon for PC is both attractive and powerful, I prefer the original newspaper view of the Mac Times reader , the way you can stack articles to read and toggle feeds and pages.
• UseNeXT - Unison - Addicted to newsgroups? UseNeXT provides a great way to browse through them and download at once. Unison for Mac is nothing short of impressive though: simple and intuitive, yet filled with features like multiple browser views, grouping and easy server setup.
• SmartFTP - Transmit - The Mac client still beats the feature rich SmartFTP thanks to Amazon S3 support, handling of remote URLs, droplets and a functional interface.

In days of yore, getting airplay for your songs meant sending off demo tapes to countless record companies and pestering radio stations morning, noon and night. Now though, thanks to the Net, it's much easier to get your work out there, as the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Sean Kingston and Lily Allen will tell you. Of course, MySpace is an obvious place to start, but then your music will only be available within this community. If you want to publish tracks for the whole world to listen to, as Radiohead have done with their new online-only album, simply follow these steps:

1. Record your song - You've probably done this already, but if you haven't, don't worry because you can do this using a simple audio recorder. Programs such as the excellent StepVoice Recorder will let you record from any sound source, such as the microphone or line-in port.
2. Import tracks to your PC - If you've got a CD with your music on it then you'll need to run it through an extractor in order to convert the tracks on it to audio files. My favourite is CDex for its sheer simplicity and the fact you don't have to pay for it.
3. Make it Web-friendly - Because large files take a long time to download over the Internet, you should ensure that your audio files are converted into a Web-friendly format. Switch is a great piece of freeware that will convert your original file into one of 12 formats. Mp3 and Ogg are probably the best options to go for because they result in small audio files with good sound quality.
4. Create a home for your songs - This step can be as tricky or as simple as you choose to make it. You could design a completely new site in an expensive professional authoring tool such as Dreamweaver, or use a free web editor to do the job for you. Once your page is created you can embed the audio files. Most decent WYSWIG web editors include an option for adding sound files for you.
5. Put it online - Now it's just a case of getting your finished site and audio files onto the Web. Your web editing program should have a built-in FTP client, but if not get yourself a copy of SmartFTP, which is probably the best in its class.
6. As an optional step, or if you just can't be bothered to create your own site then find an online distribution service such as Tunecore, which adds your songs to music download sites such as iTunes, Amazon MP3, and Napster.