Beyond Compare

I'm not one to usually bother messing with reviews but this utility is so useful I'll make an exception. Hell, I even bought it (:

I'm a programmer myself and I can tell you one thing - this sucker is VERY well designed and coded. My hat's off to whoever had anything to do with its development. I've even used some of the controls designs found in Beyond Compare as a teaching tool for setting up an effective, yet aesthetic, user interface. This program has so many features (yet, still pretty easy to master) I really haven't scratched the surface of what all it can do. Last night I used it to go thru a huge set of files and folders and find some very subtle changes that had crept in to a single file and were causing a machine interface to display gibberish. Sometimes I use it to take snapshots of the Windows Registry before and after a task and then analyze the changes. I also use it to keep some important folder/file structures synchronized and up-to-date.

There are quite a few third party plugins freely available at Scooter Software's web site that further extend its abilities. If you have any doubts about Beyond Compare just check out the user forum at http://www.scootersoftware.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php and see for yourself. Or better yet, download it and try it out.

[BTW - I would have gone for a good bit more than the $30 cost but then I would have probably had to deliver this little speel to my boss and the purchasing dept where I work since I use it there a lot too.]

Sincerely,
Doug H.

I'm fairly new to these kinds of programs, but the Manual ALIGNING of lines feature came in very handy just now (some differences between two files were confusing it) and I just wanted to chime in and say COOL!

This is a fine piece of software that allows users full control over comparison of files or folders. Good to look at and good to use.