Back in December 2004 , I talked about a new utility program , then in beta , design to simplify the task of copy files between Macs . Now officially give up , 10base - t Interactive’sDropCopy 1.01 (; free for personal use ; $ 25 site licence ) has ameliorate significantly and has become one of my favorite Mac OS X public utility .
Although Mac OS X ’s Bonjour ( formerly Rendezvous ) engineering makes it relatively easy to connect two local Macs together for the function of sharing file , you still have to set up Personal File Sharing and then manually connect from one Mac to the other , providing your name and password when motivate . When all I ’m trying to do is get a Word written document or a few exposure from my background Mac to my PowerBook , that seems like a bother . DropCopy simplify the process by letting you cursorily get off files straightaway to other computers — or to particular user on those electronic computer .
When run , DropCopy looks for other copies of DropCopy running on your local web ; it call off thesedestinations . ( If you want to copy Indian file to a computer running DropCopy that’snoton your local mesh , you may manually add that computer as a terminus by supply its IP address . ) If any destination are regain , a small , translucent circle — I call it adrop zone , and there ’s a screenshot of it on the right wing — seem on your Desktop ; you’re able to move this bead zone to wherever you prefer . When you want to copy a file to another computer , simply sweep up the file into the pearl zone , and then onto the name of the preferred name and address ( either a computer name or a user name , depending on your orientation ) . The file cabinet will be copied to the other calculator and will immediately appear wherever that computer ’s owner has decide that incoming filing cabinet should reside . ( If you drop a booklet of files — or a Mac OS X parcel , which is really a directory — DropCopy will create an archive of those files before sending ; the archive will be mechanically expand by DropCopy on the receiving computer . )
As files are copied , DropCopy ’s drop geographical zone pulses and you see the percentage of the written matter that has completed ( the screenshot on the left ) . ( If you ’ve enabled DropCopy ’s fare Browning automatic rifle icon , the icon also indicates written matter progress . ) When the copy is finished , DropCopy advise you with both text and audio frequency ( the screenshot on the right field ) .
That ’s all there is to it — no web browsing , no Connect to Server , no usernames and passwords . The only hiccup is that if you ’ve enable Mac OS X ’s firewall , you may need to configure the firewall so that it allow DropCopy dealings through ; the companyprovides instructionsfor doing so .
If you ’re on public web , DropCopy ’s preferences dialog allow you to stop the option to automatically receive files ( so malicious substance abuser ca n’t fill up your intemperate crusade with huge , unwanted files ) . you could also choose whether to display user names or electronic computer name calling as targets in the drop zone . Unfortunately — and this is my one significant charge about DropCopy — you ca n’t show both : If you ’ve have two exploiter on the same machine melt Drop Copy , you ’ll desire to show substance abuser , but if you ’ve engender multiple electronic computer hold the same user name , you wo n’t know to which calculator you ’ll be sending . likewise , if you show machine name but multiple users are running DropCopy on that simple machine , to which substance abuser will the copy go ? The developer could solve this problem by providing an choice to displaymachine : drug user .
DropCopy also has two other useful features . The first is the capability to send text messages to other users run DropCopy ; these subject matter come out in a toss off - up window on the destination user ’s screen . But even more useful is the power to copy the contents of the Clipboard on another electronic computer running DropCopy . You just select Get Clipboard : user / computer namefrom the DropCopy menu and the contents of that user ’s Clipboard are copied to your own Clipboard . ( The other user sees a dialog alerting them to your Clipboard copying , so you ca n’t use this lineament to in secret steal info . ) DropCopy does n’t provide as many options in this paying attention as ClipboardSharing , but I still use it regularly to get text from one of my figurer to another .
The with child caution here is that , like many other file - transfer utilities , you’re able to use DropCopy only with other figurer that are also running DropCopy . But if you frequently replicate files between two or more figurer , it take only a few minutes to install DropCopy on all of them and configure it to automatically set up at login ; after that , it will always be run . In fact , it ’s running on every reckoner in my firm and office — it ’s become one of the first matter I instal on any fresh Mac .
DropCopy 1.01 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and after ; an older beta that work with 10.3.8 and earlier is also useable .
