Microsoft kills FTP functionality in IE7 ... but I found a solution

(Note: the "f" word was removed -- by the author -- several times from this post. If you wish, please think of it where appropriate.)

If Steve Ballmer appeared before me right this minute, I'd punch him in the stomach. Hard. More than once.

That's for screwing up the brilliantly simple FTP functionality in Internet Explorer 6 by pretty much gutting it in Internet Explorer 7.

Between home and work, I use Linux, Mac OS X and Windows -- bet you can guess what my "official" work box is running. Yes, I finally decided to upgrade from IE6 to IE7 on my company's Dell Optiplex GX520. I try to never upgrade anything when I don't have to, but I figured that it's been OVER A YEAR since IE7 made its debut. Surely they've "improved" whatever they screwed up in the upgrade. I've been using Firefox (on Windows, Mac and Linux) a lot because of tabbed browsing, and I'd like to have the same feature in IE.

I use IE as my FTP client because it's so easy and intuitive. You open an FTP site and get a bunch of folders, just like in your own directories. You can click them open, create new folders, drop stuff in them, delete stuff out of them.

So I install IE7 and go about my day.

When I have to do some FTP work, I open IE7. It looks different. I have a list of files. I can open them, but I can't create new folders or upload new files.

What the hell? Ballmer -- you and your ilk are IDIOTS. Your browser has an advantage over Firefox, and you have to ruin it?

Turns out you can use IE7 for FTP. Here's the "official" way:

Here's a shortcut for getting an FTP directory listing within IE7:

Open Internet Explorer 7

In the address bar, type the following command:

ftp://username:password@domain

IE 7 will display a list of files and folders from the FTP domain

To quickly save a file locally, right-click the file and select "Save Target As..."

To manage the remote and locals files more completely, click the 'Page' menu button on the right-hand side of the IE 7 browser window and select the option, "Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer"

you can now drag-n-drop the files from remote FTP server to local file system easily

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 has some great enhancements over IE 6; however, with these enhancements comes a loss of some basic and useful functionality. I don't expect Microsoft to rest too long before they update IE 7 with an easier way to FTP - but - for now you have a hack. Enjoy.

This "worked" for me on one FTP site, but it DIDN'T WORK on another -- meaning the one I use most of the time.

So here's a WAY BETTER SOLUTION:

I wanted to use FTP to help someone out with transfering files and rather than worry about using a proper FTP client, a web browser can usually do the business, I tested to make sure it would work.

For Internet Explorer you have to do surprising things to log in to a password protected FTP server. Like this in the address bar

ftp://myname:address.hidden.to@non.subscribers.com

And off you go.

This NO LONGER works with Internet Explorer 7, is ok for 6 and below.

Turns out there is a crazy solution, good to know tip. (yeah you all knew!)

Open a normal file browser/explorer as you would for the local file system, yes that one, not Internet Explorer.

Type in the FTP address in the location bar ftp://anftp.site.com

And off you go. It prompts for the login details. You can use drag and drop etc.

Should work for web site uploads to your web server too.

I'm glad the solution is so easy. I use FTP clients in Linux, and I even downloaded and installed FireFTP for Firefox, but it's not as good, easy and fast as the IE (and now just "Windows") solution.

At this point, I'd prefer to "go back" to IE6, but what are the chances of that working -- and of keeping my nearly 1,000 bookmarks in the process?

Hey Ballmer, can you maybe try some things that won't drive people away from your products? Why don't you stop threatening to sue the makers and users of Linux and other open-source software over shadowy intellectual-property violations and JUST MAKE STUFF THAT'S BETTER?