DropCopy - a tiny, indispensible tool
Published by on December 19th, 2004
Simple, fast file transfer across Rendezvous (Mac OSX).
Developer’s site: http://10base-t.com
VersionTracker
We have a small network of four macs here, three of which are in regular use and need frequent transfer of files. Logging in to another machine on the network can be a pain for just a simple, one off transfer, and iChat Rendezvous can be clumsy, requiring both sender and recipient to interact and approve the transfer.
Enter DropCopy…
A tiny and unobtrusive application which places a discreet almost transparent circle on your desktop - which can be dragged around. Drag any file onto the circle and any other machines on the network also running DropCopy, appear as either their machine name or logged-in user name(s).
Drop the file, and off it goes to the recipient. So simple, it’s daft.
I am constantly transferring files between my powerbook and desktop mac; individual files not worthy of going through the login process or a full folder synchronisation. DropCopy makes this simple.
Basic security issues are handled by optionally forcing the recipient to accept the incoming file transfer request. The destination folder for the incoming file is fully definable as are a number of other preferences. I’m almost thinking it needs a few more functions, settings or prefs, but to be honest its current simplicity and lack of bloated, unnecessary features, is quite appealing.
Clipboard sharing
In addition to file transfer, DropCopy allows you to pick up the current contents of a remote machine’s clipboard (based on approval settings on the remote machine), and transfer it to the local clipboard. I’ve found this to be a little glitchy, so there’s clearly some work still to complete (DropCopy is currently Beta v0.2 right now.
Future
Within a day or two this has become an indispensable utility. Thankfully, the developer promises to keep the shareware price down to a very sensible minimum and states that it will always be free for up to three networked machines.
If you have more than one networked machine and need fast, simple file transfer, DropCopy is a no brainer.
