Fetch Softworks has released Fetch 5.3, a Leopard-focused update to the company's venerable file transfer software that goes well beyond basic compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Fetch 5.3 sports a redesigned look-and-feel that integrates better with Leopard, has been digitally signed to reduce keychain alerts, adds support for Leopard's application-specific firewall, uses the default Downloads folder in Leopard, exempts the Fetch Cache from Time Machine backups, and more. The most notable new feature that's unrelated to Leopard is that Fetch 5.3 now allows you to use the Copy and Paste commands to upload files and copy files between servers, a perfectly sensible approach that's sometimes easier than drag-and-drop.

My favorite feature in Fetch remains WebView, the clever way you can set it to copy HTTP URLs for files you've uploaded to an FTP server. I use Fetch for uploading article images because once I've uploaded them, I can just select the file in Fetch, press Command-C, and then paste the reformatted HTTP URL into my article.

Fetch 5.3 is a universal binary that requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later; it's a 16 MB download. The update is free for all Fetch 5 users; upgrading from Fetch 4 costs $15 and new copies cost $25. Free licenses are available for educational and charitable use.