This was posted by Andrew Tomazos on the Interarchy list. Sounds like it'll be the winning solution once it's out:
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The major new feature in the upcoming Interarchy 5.0 will be called
FTP Disk. It will allow you to mount a remote FTP folder directly
into the Mac OS Finder and use it just like any other folder on your
local hard drive.
FTP Disks will have an advanced caching system which means that you
will be able to access FTP instantly, even on a slow Internet
connection, or even when you are offline (such as a laptop user going
on a plane). Interarchy will automatically queue changes that are
made on both the server and the client - and make them in the
background when the network is available, so that you can keep
working and don't have to wait for files to be uploaded or
downloaded.
This feature takes FTP to a new level on the Mac, making frequently
accessed servers that you use a transparent part of your workflow.
Previously you have only been able to use tools that have built in
support for FTP (such as BBEdit) on a remote server. FTP Disk will
soon enable you to use the Finder and *any* application quickly and
easily on remote files over FTP.
It has a similar interface to iDisk, where you create an FTP Disk and
then mount it when you need it and then unmount it when you are done.
FTP Disks look and act like any other local folder. The traditional
form of Mac FTP clients will be made pretty much obsolete for
accessing frequently used FTP servers by this feature. FTP Disk is
much easier to use than traditional FTP interfaces and will work on
any FTP server with no modification.
FTP Disk will not cover everything you want to do with FTP. It will
only be useful for accessing frequently used servers. Their is no
point in creating an FTP Disk to access a server once. Interarchy's
traditional manual listing interface is still the best and can be
used separately or in tandem with FTP Disk, allowing you to mix and
match depending on what you want to do.
In between the manual interface and FTP Disks we have included three
new features called Mirror Upload, Mirror Download and Mirror Both
Ways. Mirror Upload isn't actually new, but it is using the new
engine so has many more features and is much more intelligent than
previous versions. These mirroring features take a local folder and
a remote FTP folder and transfer only things that have changed,
keeping them in sync. Mirror Upload keeps a remote folder in sync
with a local one. Mirror Download keeps a local folder in sync with
a remote one. Mirror Both Ways transfers changes on both ends based
on when they were made.
The mirroring features can be a more effective way of doing FTP than
FTP Disk or the manual interface in certain workflows. We will
include all three ways in version 5.0.
As I mentioned last time 5.0 will have SSH. FTP Disks, mirroring and
the manual interface will all be able to be used over a secure SSH
connection. 5.0 will also be a FATCarbon build, which means there
will be one version that will run natively on all versions of Mac OS
(including X).
There are many minor improvements in 5.0 we will go through closer to
the release, I have only skimmed over the major ones (FTP Disk,
Mirroring and SSH) here.
I have received the final alpha version of 5.0 on my desk. We will
commence beta testing next week. I will be mailing out invitations
for beta testing shortly to a selection of our users so keep an eye
out for it. People that purchase version 4 after this date will
receive a free upgrade to version 5 when it is released. Final
pricing has not been decided, but the price is likely to go up once
5.0 is released so this may be a good time to purchase if you have
not already done so. Depending on how quickly we get through beta
testing the new engine, the final version of Interarchy 5.0 should be
released in between 4 to 12 weeks.
If you have any questions about FTP Disk or any of the new features
don't hesitate to ask.
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http://enquiry.interarchy.com/
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