A Good One Gets Better (But So Does The Competition)
Where once PackIt stood alone, we have now an embarrassment of riches in file compression software. The quality and abilities of these programs continue to improve as StuffIt Deluxe, DiskDoubler, and Compactor have all been upgraded recently. In an attempt to update you on StuffIt Deluxe I could hardly ignore the progress made by its major competitors.
In A Deep State of Compression
Shortly after receiving my free upgrade to StuffIt Deluxe (now version 2.0) in the mail, I got another free disk, this time for DiskDoubler (now version 3.1). While on America Online, I found Compact Pro, the renamed and upgraded Compactor. Faced with all these programs and wishing to report on the improvements, I gathered a group of somewhat representative files and began compressing them, noting the resultant file sizes and times required to do the work.
My time measurement is somewhat less than scientific (I used a stopwatch) but should be a pretty good indicator of performance. I have not included the raw data from which the charts shown were created, but I have the numbers in spreadsheet form for those who may be interested.
My main intention here is to discuss StuffIt Deluxe, but let me digress for a moment and mention the others. Compactor suffered from a naming conflict with another program and so was renamed. It remains shareware and is still distributed by its author, Bill Goodman. Registered Compactor users are now registered Compact Pro users. I’m not too familiar with the older Compactor, so I can make little comment on improvements and changes made.
DiskDoubler has undergone several changes, the most significant of which is the addition of new compressed file icons which retain the basic form of the original file’s icon. This makes it much easier to identify the application which created the file, even after DiskDoubler has compressed it (the old DiskDoubler used a generic DiskDoubler icon for all files).
Back To StuffIt Deluxe
StuffIt was once a shareware product, like Compact Pro, and the uncontested leader in the file compression field. It is still used extensively by online services to reduce the time required to download and to keep all related files together so that, when downloading, one gets all that are needed (remember in the bad old days when you could download a program, log off, and then find out you needed a data file as well!). Now that StuffIt has gone commercial with Deluxe, it is fair game for criticism. The media, including our own Mac Monitor has taken StuffIt Deluxe to task for its relative slowness and inefficient compaction.
Aladdin Systems has not given up on their aging star and have released version 2.0 (and a patch to version 2.0.1) which attempts to increase speed and compression results. As a follow–up to my recent articles I have checked StuffIt Deluxe version 2.0 against version 1.0 to measure the improvement. While I was at it, I threw in DiskDoubler and Compact Pro too. The two graphs shown document those measurements. In the charts the abbreviation SD is StuffIt Deluxe and DD is (can you guess?) DiskDoubler. I used two different compression methods for StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 to give you an idea of the differences in time versus space saved.
When compared to its competitors, StuffIt Deluxe has always been a more complete, smoother and feature-filled product. For some users these differences will outweigh its poorer compression abilities. Version 2.0 adds a wealth of new features that only a true compression-head could love! Some of the more esoteric are:
• An improved archive password locking scheme
• XCMD’s for stuffing/unstuffing from within HyperCard
• Scripts for stuffing/unstuffing from within MicroPhone II
• QuicKeys 2 extensions
• MPW tools for developers needing to stuff/unstuff projects
• XTND for reading archive contents (XTND’s are used by Claris products)
• An expanded scripting language
StuffIt Deluxe has always offered several different compression techniques providing varying abilities with respect to speed and amount of compression. The “Fast” option, for example, sacrifices some space in favor of speed while “Better” goes for the best compression but takes longer. StuffIt Deluxe version 2.0 adds two new compression options called “Optimal” and “Best Guess.”
Optimal compression is a totally new method which offers an excellent balance between compression efficiency and speed. You can judge its effectiveness from the graphic results. Best Guess asks StuffIt Deluxe to chose a compression technique itself; StuffIt Deluxe looks at the file and makes it’s best guess for effectiveness among the standard methods available.
Joining the specialty compression optimizers for PhotoShop (both “loss less” and JPEG “lossy”) and Sound are now optimizers for Text and MacPaint files. StuffIt Deluxe optimizers “know” about these types of files and can make more effective compressions based on that knowledge of structure and format.
Sometimes developers have to move ahead to see what they left behind. The original StuffIt had the ability to create “Auto-Unstuffing” archives which were little applications which could unstuff the files contained with just a double-click. Well StuffIt Deluxe has gone back to the future and added this much missed feature. Another missing oldie has been the Stuff and Unstuff Desk Accessories. They’re back!
The Results
Let’s take a look at the charts now and see if we can make any observations. You can see that the new version of StuffIt Deluxe is faster than the old in “Better” mode while producing almost equal compression. Version 2.0 is about 28% faster than 1.0 while only giving up 2% in compression effectiveness. I guess upgrades must be good for something other than confusion and incompatibilities.
The “Optimal” setting in the new version is a wash. It provides a 13% increase in speed while giving up about 13% in space savings. You can swap time for space.
These speed increases still do not catch DiskDoubler or Compact Pro. If we compare StuffIt Deluxe’s “Optimal” compression mode, compression results are 11% better than DiskDoubler but 20% poorer than Compact Pro. I have invented an ‘effectiveness ratio’ which is defined as the percent space saved divided by the time to do it. Looking at this new measure shows StuffIt Deluxe (Optimal) at 2.7, DiskDoubler with 10.2, and Compact Pro earning a 7.2. There may be statisticians out there who would argue with me, but it looks like DiskDoubler gives the best compression versus time of them all.
What Does All It Mean?
The extra convenience features of StuffIt Deluxe and its good documentation combined with commercial support still make it a good choice for off–line compression and archiving. Compact Pro is an excellent bargain and produces world class results in a somewhat less professional package (but it only costs 25 bucks!). It would be hard to beat DiskDoubler for on-line compression. Maybe you need them all!
It is unfortunate that this update on compression tools lacks a clean hitting recommendation. This is because there are really two things going on here. StuffIt Deluxe and Compact Pro are both in the business of archiving while DiskDoubler attempts to provide “hot” compression of files and even applications as you use them. To DiskDoubler, speed is of the essence while StuffIt Deluxe and Compact Pro can spend more time. It is a tough call between StuffIt Deluxe and Compact Pro because one is a commercial shrink-wrapped product while the other is an excellent shareware offering with better performance but fewer bells and whistles. It is a pleasant problem to have.
The article above is reprinted from Mac Monitor, the newsletter of The Savannah Macintosh Users Group. It may be reprinted in a single issue of newsletters published by non-profit user groups. Payment shall consist of a single issue of the newsletter in which the article appears, sent to the following address:
