Manage Your Mac’s Files And Uploads With A Forklift.

I have about every Mac file management utility you can find. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Mac’s Finder, though there is.

Path Finder is a good Finder replacement. For everything else I’m using a ForkLift because it moves files fast, easy, and almost everywhere you want files to be.

ForkLift is a fast, powerful file manager for your Mac which does much more than just move files around or let you find files on your Mac. It’s even more than an FTP or SFTP utility.

While Path Finder is more than a Finder replacement, both have limitations when it comes to moving files around from one Mac to another, and especially from one server to another. ForkLift is not only easy to use, but connects to just about everything a Mac can connect to.

For example, I use Panic’s Transmit for FTP and SFT. Recently, I’ve been using YummyFTP for the same purpose because it’s much faster at uploading files.

ForkLift does FTP and SFT using an elegant interface which is easy to master. In my tests, ForkLift seems to move files via FTP faster than Transmit, not quite as fast as Yummy. But ForkLift does much more.

The standard dual-pane view is omnipresent. Left to right, right to left, and you control where you navigate on either side. ForkLift copies Mac files.

Copy between hard drives, to and from an iPod, FTP and SFTP to remote servers, even from one spot on your Mac to another.

ForkLift is handy because of the extensive feature set. The developers at BinaryNights have included a bunch of heretofore somewhat hidden Mac OS X utilities such as an Application Deleter to get rid of unwanted apps and utilities.

ForkLift also archives and uncompresses files on your Mac using .zip. Gzip, Tar, Rar, and sisboombah. Some of the handier features include my favorite implementation of Tabs and, like the Finder and Path Finder, Spring-Loaded Folders. For the search fanatics among us, ForkLife integrates with Spotlight, sets up Favorites, and even connects to Bluetooth devices.

Amazon’s S3 service is increasingly popular as an inexpensive and reliable backup source, and, unlike most FTP or SFTP utilities, ForkLift lets you connect and upload or download files.

Most good Mac utilities come with a free trial period, and ForkLift is no exception. If you want to manage files on your Mac, and need to connect to other Macs, or FTP/SFT sites, ForkLift is worthy of a trial. The latest version is ready for Mac OS X Leopard and a series of video screencasts so you can see what ForkLift does before buying.

Got a favorite file manager for your Mac, or a favorite FTP-SFTP client? Talk Back to Mac360 with your experience in the Comments section below.