zsCompare Review, June 6, 2005

Lately I've reviewed several different file management utilities, and found that each has different strengths. A couple of outstanding features immediately come to mind with zsCompare. First of all, it is Mac-compatible. I often see Mac users complaining that there isn't a wide array of system utilities available for the Mac like there is for Windows.

Another thing I noticed right away was the high degree of professionalism found in zsCompare. It was obvious from the installation, where there were many user-friendly options. I always tend to look over a new application, and hit the F1 key when I have a question. The help screen started right up - hooray! And what a great help screen it is too.

zsCompare really shines when it comes to documentation. Sometimes I'm in the mood to just jump in and get a job done. Other times, I'd really like to understand what I'm doing and learn to do it right. I was in such a mood the first time I tried zsCompare.

I was pleased to see a wealth of information about backing up data! zsCompare's "How To" documentation starts off with a simple 4 step process for backing up data. I love it when steps are numbered so I don't lose my place. zsCompare's documentation showed me pictures of the buttons, and explained what they do.

There was also an explanation of backing up to networked computers, and backing up to removable media. That's what I'm interested in! Then zsCompare's help file went on to explain (in non-technical language, thank you) how to check the backup for errors and how to create a simple batch file to automate your backups.

zsCompare can directly compare text files, but you can also compare binary documents, like Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files.

Software developers can use zsCompare to easily compare file revisions and spot changes in code. It would be useful sometimes, I think, to be able to use zsCompare's freeform text comparison for this purpose, to spot changes line by line. Then zsCompare lets you merge the files according to your directions.

I used zsCompare to compare folders, and it worked like a charm. Again, the help file was extremely clear with a topic "How to compare folders." Very nice.

I've been working with a lot of PDF documents lately, and I used zsCompare to figure out which one was the latest version (I forgot - oops!)

I'm sorry. I'm just not into JAR files. But who knows - maybe I will be someday. If I ever start doing Java development, then I can use zsCompare to compare my JAR files too. zsCompare even manages ZIP files! You can create, delete, update and extract ZIP files.

Let's face it - most of the time the folks interested in doing data backups have some programming background. With this fact in mind perhaps, zsCompare offers command line options for automatically (how I love the word "automatic"!!) synchronizing computers. Anyone who is in business probably loves the word "automatic" just as much as I do.

Another thing I really like about zsCompare is its ability to validate the data on CDs by comparing them to the source files. This is an excellent feature for anyone who produces CDs for online sales like we do.

zsCompare also shines in another special feature: finding duplicated files. That's because zsCompare also includes "Duplicate Hunter." Look for more information on "Duplicate Hunter" coming to our site soon in a brand new review!

The Great Mind Review Team
Great Mind Inc