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 *************************************************************************