Access remote files from your Finder

We recently reviewed MacFUSE, which we explained would help create all sorts of intuitive interfaces for file system implementation. ExpanDrive is the perfect example of what you can achieve with MacFUSE.

This application lets you access all your remote files via SFTP straight from your Finder. There’s no worrying about downloading or uploading files, the program keeps you connected to your server from your Finder and you can edit, change and save your files easily. All you need to know is your host name, username and password to connect to your SFTP server.

Files opened from a Subversion (SVN) can be edited straight from ExpanDrive using the built-in SVN commands from any text editor. The most impressive thing about ExpanDrive is how responsive it is, making you almost forget that you’re working on remote files.

On the downside, ExpanDrive tends to leave behind ‘.DS_Store’ files in your remote server, which you’ll have to remove afterwards, if you want to keep your folders tidy. ExpanDrive also lacks proper explanations as to how it can be uninstalled. It installs a lot of different files on your system and you’ll have to get rid of them to if your removing the program.

Despite these two minor drawbacks, ExpanDrive is a perfect example of what can be achieved with MacFUSE, access to remote folders in a snap.

Fixes for saving with MacVIM and Office 2004Increased compatibility with more Windows based SFTP serversProperly support drive nicknames with colons

Changes

• Fixes for saving with MacVIM and Office 2004Increased compatibility with more Windows based SFTP serversProperly support drive nicknames with colons