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I use Beyond Compare to effectively manage all my local files with the production servers of clients. Comparing files and reconciling versions is fun in Beyond Compare. It costs money. So, is there a free alternative with similar features??

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I'm using Windows 7 – detj Feb 28 '10 at 0:55
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I believe the best-diff-tool question on StackOverflow has them all. Or at least, a solid collection (both payware & freeware).

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up vote 5 down vote

Winmerge (windows only) is pretty great. What os are you on?

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can WinMerge open remote ftp/sftp connections?? – detj Feb 28 '10 at 16:05
Windows 7 ................. – detj Feb 28 '10 at 16:15
I can filter with regexps and wrap lines - woohoo!!! – Umber Ferrule Sep 22 '10 at 11:38
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up vote 2 down vote

As Jason specified, we need to know your operating system.

KDiff3 and Meld are excellent alternatives though. Both are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you can handle emacs, emacs has diff functionality, with guided merging of files and highlighted differences. I don't know of any similar functionality for comparing directories though.

edit:

I should have known, ediff can do directories as well.

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