A combination of two things recently combined to make me change the way I use FTP.

Firstly, I had started to use SmartFTP, but they stopped offering a free version and I was unwilling to upgrade to a product that seemed to have a very frequent upgrade cycle, with the newest version subtly altering the way you were used to working with it.

Secondly, I have lately needed to work with more Linux-based web servers than usual, which offer SSH access, and some of which block standard FTP access.

I am also aware that FTP itself is insecure as it sends passwords and file content in clear text.  Giving root access over FTP is not a good idea, but having that level of access is certainly handy for peeking at logs and so on.

The best solution I found was to install WinSCP and use it as an sFTP client.  Just use your SSH login details (still not root) and select sFTP as the protocol, and you're away.  The interface is not as pretty as SmartFTP and the like, but it does the job, and supports queues, directory synchronisation and remote editing.