FileChute
Review by: Katie
http://www.yellowmug.com/filechute/
Price: $14.95

I love email, it's without a doubt my favorite form of communication though there are at times a few "kinks" in the system. One of my biggest annoyances is the file size limitations that many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) put on email attachments and the problems when trying to send a large file to someone via email. At best, sending the email takes a long time to send and receive. At worst, your file ends up lost somewhere in cyberspace because either your or your recipients ISP refused to send or receive the file because of it's size and you never had any idea the file wasn't transmitted. Sure, you can use, and I recommend Apple's .Mac service by sending large files via your iDisk, or you could use an FTP transfer protocol, but all of these methods can be troublesome, especially if the person you're sending the file to doesn't have a .Mac account or understand how FTP works. Alas, in comes FileChute which finally rids me of my largest email annoyance for good.

Instead of actually sending a file via email (and thus run into the problems mentioned above) FileChute will upload the file to your webspace (either via .Mac or any other space you may have purchased or have access to) then generate an email that includes a link to the file so all your recipient has to do is click on the link to begin their download. This is great because it doesn't clog up anyones in-box and your recipient can choose to download the file at their convenience.

FileChute is incredibly easy to use. The first time you launch it you'll be walked through a setup process to configure FileChute to us your .Mac account or other webspace. Once setup is complete, you simply drag and drop the file you want to send from your computer onto the FileChute icon and FileChute will upload the file and create the appropriate link that all your recipient need do is click on to begin their download. FileChute also has some great integrated features such as compressing files before upload (.dmg, .zip or .tar formats). My favorite feature is that FileChute will allow you to specify how long you want to make a file available for download. If you have a large file to transfer, chances are you don't want it to take up space on your server forever. You can choose a default "expiration date" at which point FileChute will automatically remove the file from your server or if you prefer to manage things manually, FileChute has a very easy to use graphical interface that will allow you to quickly view yoru uploaded files and delete them.

FileChute is a Universal Binary, it will run natively on PowerPC or Intel based Macs and works with Mac OS 10.3 (Panther) or higher.