aladdin@well.sf.ca.us (Greg Friedman) (02/22/91)
***** Aladdin Systems, Inc. ***** To the Usenet community, In light of recent discussions regarding the performance and features of StuffIt Deluxe and the other compression utilities currently in use, we thought we would contribute some suggestions for optimizing the performance of StuffIt Deluxe. We have also included some of our thoughts on the nature of benchmark testing and methods of alleviating testing biases. We are always open to feedback on our products. We welcome direct e-mail as well as open discussion on the net. As one contributor pointed out, it is discussion of the sort that is occuring that makes it necessary for vendors to support and improve their products. We acknowledge the shortcomings of our product and are working to resolve them. Similarly, we recognize the strengths of the StuffIt applications and support utilities and want our users to be satisfied. Please feel free to direct e-mail to my attention. Greg Friedman Technical Support Director Aladdin Systems Optimizing StuffIt Deluxe: First: **USE BEST GUESS COMPRESSION** 90% of the time "Best Guess" will produce the same amount of compression as "Better" in a significantly shorter time period. Best Guess analyzes a file, makes an educated guess on which compression algorithm will provide the most compression, and Stuffs. Better actually runs through all of the available compression algorithms, determines the most efficient, and finally Stuffs. Unless you absolutely need to shave a few K off of a compressed archive, go with the "Best Guess" option. Second: **USE COMPRESSION OPTIMIZERS** The text, PICT, Photoshop, MacPaint, Sound and JPEG optimizers packaged with StuffIt Deluxe can significantly reduce the size of archives. Several of the optimizers actually reduce compression time!! Be aware, however, that the JPEG and Text optimizers are "Lossy" optimizers. Familiarize yourself with each optimizer. Information on these options is in the Deluxe manual and the version 2.0 addendum. Third: **Disable "Allow Background Tasks"** Disable the "Allow Background Tasks" in the Preferences Dialog. Unless you have a specific need to Stuff and work in another application, we recommend not using this option. This can increase compression times up to 50%. Thoughts on Benchmarks: OBJECTIVITY: Perhaps the most pressing issue to consider when pitting products against one another is objectivity. Benchmark tests that speak directly to the strengths or weaknesses of one of the tested products can produce impartial, biased results. With this in mind, we have some suggestions for designing benchmark tests of data compression products. **USE A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE** Stuff a set of files that is representative of files found on hard drives. We suggest breaking the set of files down into 10 categories: Graphics Word Processing Database Files Plain Text Applications Inits/CDEVs Hypercard Stacks Sounds Spreadsheets Page Layouts Vary the sizes of files in each category. Create archives of different sizes and configurations. Run each application in its optimal state. As I said in the introduction, we are constantly involved in the process of improving and updating our products. Questions and feedback are welcome. ************************************************************************* ALADDIN SYSTEMS, INC. Deer Park Center, Suite 23A-171 Aptos, CA 95003-4723 Internet: aladdin@well.sc.ca.us AOL: ALADDIN AppleLink: ALADDIN CIS: 75016, 325 MacNet: ALADDIN GEnie: ALADDINSYS *************************************************************************
rterry@hpcuhc.cup.hp.com (Ray Terry) (02/26/91)
It might help if your support folks responded to the bug reports sent to the 'well' address... I've sent three bug reports over the past two months to the address listed in your sig, but have yet to receive a single response. Is that what you call support??? Ray rterry@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com
dburr@headcrash.Berkeley.EDU (Donald Burr) (02/26/91)
In article <107960010@hpcuhc.cup.hp.com> rterry@hpcuhc.cup.hp.com (Ray Terry) writes: >It might help if your support folks responded to the bug reports sent to the >'well' address... I've sent three bug reports over the past two months to >the address listed in your sig, but have yet to receive a single response. > >Is that what you call support??? > >Ray >rterry@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com C'mon, give them a break. The Well is, I believe, a public access system (Correct me if i'm wrong), i.e. they don't have their own machine on the Net. So they probably can't check mail there all THAT often. One thing is for sure, however. ALADDIN LISTENS TO THEIR CUSTOMERS!! I was browsing through the Aladdin support BBS, on America Online. I ewas looking through all their old messages, from before Stuffit Deluxe 2.0. **EVERY SINGLE FEATURE REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN ADDED INTO THE NEW RELEASE** EVERY LAST ONE!! And, they listen to their E-Mail messages. I have gotten prompt, within 1-2 business days, replies to my inquiries, bug reports, and feature requests. They even listen on their Compu$erve address. IMHO, these people have got it together! Plus, they are one of a dying breed of software companies that actually give FREE upgrades. Most others charge a "nominal fee" for theirs... yeah, right, like $40 bucks or so for just a bug fix upgrade (a la Microsoft Word). ______________________________________________________________________________ Donald Burr; Univ of California, Berkeley | America Online: DonaldBurr INTERNET: dburr@ocf.Berkeley.EDU |_CompuServe:_72540,3071____________ or: 72540.3071@compuserve.COM | "Send flames to /dev/null."
rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes) (02/26/91)
In article <1991Feb26.091736.18973@agate.berkeley.edu> dburr@headcrash.Berkeley.EDU (Donald Burr) writes: >**EVERY SINGLE FEATURE REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN ADDED INTO THE >NEW RELEASE** EVERY LAST ONE!! Gee, does that mean if I post a request for the next version of Stuffit to be able to put up a picture of a bunch of water buffalo doing a cha-cha, complete with sampled sound effects, they'll do it? Foo. Creeping featuritis can be an ugly thing. In what should be a simple utility, it can be horrible. How big did you say the latest version of Stuffit is? -- - Rich Holmes rich@suhep.bitnet or rich@suhep.phy.syr.edu Syracuse U. Physics Dept. or if you must: rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu "I don't lie. I'm cultivating a reputation for honesty so I can blow it when something big comes along. This ain't it." -- Steven Brust, Phoenix
rterry@hpcuhc.cup.hp.com (Ray Terry) (02/27/91)
>>It might help if your support folks responded to the bug reports sent to the >>'well' address... I've sent three bug reports over the past two months to >>the address listed in your sig, but have yet to receive a single response. > >C'mon, give them a break. The Well is, I believe, a public access >system (Correct me if i'm wrong), i.e. they don't have their own machine >on the Net. So they probably can't check mail there all THAT often. You're kidding, right??? "they probably can't check mail there all THAT often" ??? If they expect to provide support via e-mail, as they indicate, then they had better be checking it at least weekly, if not everyday. It really doesn't matter anymore. I was die-hard StuffIt fan (note my name in the StuffIt 1.5 manual), but now I prefer Compact Pro. Why? Better support and superior data compression. Ray rterry@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com
rterry@hpcuhc.cup.hp.com (Ray Terry) (02/28/91)
>> **EVERY SINGLE FEATURE REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN ADDED INTO THE >> NEW RELEASE** EVERY LAST ONE!! Now that is complete BS! There were several enhancements that I requested last year (after 1.0, but well before 2.0) that aren't in 2.0.1... Ray rterry@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com
dburr@avalanche.Berkeley.EDU (Donald Burr) (02/28/91)
In article <1991Feb26.144753.11977@rodan.acs.syr.edu> rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes) writes: >In article <1991Feb26.091736.18973@agate.berkeley.edu> dburr@headcrash.Berkeley.EDU (Donald Burr) writes: >>**EVERY SINGLE FEATURE REQUESTED BY THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN ADDED INTO THE >>NEW RELEASE** EVERY LAST ONE!! > >Gee, does that mean if I post a request for the next version of Stuffit to be >able to put up a picture of a bunch of water buffalo doing a cha-cha, complete >with sampled sound effects, they'll do it? *WITHIN REASON*, ok? Every single feature, WITHIN REASON... >Foo. Creeping featuritis can be an ugly thing. In what should be a simple >utility, it can be horrible. How big did you say the latest version of >Stuffit is? You don't *HAVE* to install Magic Menu. You don't *HAVE* to have "Expert menu's" switched on(remember, there are 2 menu levels, standard and Expert). You don't *HAVE* to drop Translators in your System folder - heck, you don't even *HAVE* to have a Translators folder in your System Folder! It's there if you want it, but they aren't forcing it down your throat. > >-- > - Rich Holmes rich@suhep.bitnet or rich@suhep.phy.syr.edu > Syracuse U. Physics Dept. or if you must: rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu > "I don't lie. I'm cultivating a reputation for honesty so I can blow it > when something big comes along. This ain't it." -- Steven Brust, Phoenix ______________________________________________________________________________ Donald Burr; Univ of California, Berkeley | America Online: DonaldBurr INTERNET: dburr@ocf.Berkeley.EDU |_CompuServe:_72540,3071____________ or: 72540.3071@compuserve.COM | "Send flames to /dev/null."