Description:
StuffIt has been an invaluable application for Mac users since the days of floppy disks, providing a clean and reliable way for us to compress our data into the smallest files possible. Over the years the freeware StuffIt Expander has made unpacking downloaded files easy for everyone, and the popular shareware DropStuff has let us prepare our own documents for transmission via e-mail. But it's the Deluxe version of StuffIt that's always carried the real power. It should come as no surprise that this release of Aladdin's flagship software continues to handle just about any compression format under the sun. Far from being a Mac-only translator, StuffIt Deluxe can create and decode archives in standard Unix and Windows formats as well. And, if you want to send someone a file but aren't sure if they have StuffIt Expander installed, just mail it their way in StuffIt's Mac or Windows self-expanding format. Although we think that the StuffIt Deluxe application (featuring an updated clean interface) is fantastic in and of itself, the extra goodies are what really make the Deluxe version worth the purchase. With Deluxe's seamless True Finder Integration, you can browse and modify archives right on your desktop without unpacking them first, immediately archive folders or files by simply renaming them with a .sit or .zip extension, and directly manipulate documents with the finder-level Magic and Contextual Menus. New to these integrated menus is Stuff & Mail, which compresses a file and then launches your e-mail client with the archive already attached to a new message. ArchiveSearch can search for files within archives, and of course StuffIt Expander, DropStuff, and DropZip are included to handle your drag-and-drop compression needs. Also new is the notion of a ReturnReceipt, an e-mail confirmation that the person you sent the file to has opened it. It's a neat idea, but there's no guarantee that you'll get the message; the archive will ask the recipient if it's OK first, launch their e-mail client, and rely on them to send the note, which strikes us as being too unwieldy to have a high success rate. This release leaves compatibility for older (pre-PowerPC) Macs behind, but with a wide-ranging feature set and Mac OS X compatibility (although OS X won't support True Finder Integration), Aladdin Systems has once again managed to cram--or stuff--an awful lot into a utility every Mac user should own. --Jack Gardiner
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