(This file will look best if you put the type into Monaco 9.)
This file compares the time and compression ratio of three different compression programs that are now being or have been sold as shareware on this BBS. The programs are Compact Pro, Stuffit Classic and the venerable old standard, Packit III.
To compare the three programs, I used four files that I thought would give the programs a good run -- a PageMaker 4.0 newsletter with no graphics, 97,728 bytes; a SuperPaint 1.1 file saved as a MacPaint file, 15,506 bytes; a Microsoft Word 4.0 file, 54,272 bytes; and a Microsoft Excel file, 5,022 bytes. I chose these files because each offers different problems to the programs I was testing. All four files amounted to 172,528 bytes.
To get a good comparison, I ran Stuffit Classic in its three modes -- Better, Optimum and Fast. I didn't check the Stuffit 1.5 box. The files were compressed without any comments, self-extracting or verification. They all went under a straight compression run so I could get roughly comparable results. The times, by the way, are measured in one-hundredths of a minute.
What this comparison tells me is the Compact Pro is by far the all-round best. It has the best compression ratio, and it is fast. Only Stuffit Classic in Fast mode beat it out on the time it took to compress the files.
I did this comparison because -- with the exception of the old Packit III, which I used as an old baseline -- I wanted to know which shareware product to buy. My money will go to Compact Pro for its speed and efficiency -- that is, if can ever make enough money to send the cash. (I promise you'll get the $25 eventually, Bill Goodman.)
I wish I had had a copy of Stuffit Deluxe to test, but I didn't. I do have some general observations, though:
1. Stuffit Classic in the Fast mode is far quicker than the rest and beats out the competition.
2. Stuffit Classic has a more elegant interface than Compact Pro and tells you more of what is going on when you compress files. However, this may be what drags its compression speed down.
3. I've experienced problems making self-extracting files with Stuffit Classic. For example, I will add the Standard module at the beginning of a compression run, compress the files and, at the end, it will tell me it can't load the module. What I have to do then is choose Save As from the File menu and check the box for self-extraction. I've incurred no self-extracting problems with Compact Pro.
4. On my hard disk, I've got a cdev/init that checks for viruses. When I go through the motions of No. 3 above, it will warn me that something is trying to tamper with the Stuffit Classic file. I am forced to choose to allow it to happen, about three different times in the process, and it is annoying. With Compact Pro, I have no such problems.
I'll probably eventually buy a copy of Stuffit Deluxe just to have it. But for sheer performance and all-round dependability with the least amount of hassles, for my money you can't beat Compact Pro, at least as of May 6, 1991.
I hope you all find this information useful. I did spend some time at it.
As a suggestion for those of you, like me, who occasionally load stuff up on the BBS: Since there are two main Mac compression programs used nowadays -- Stuffit and Compact Pro (and several versions of each) -- please make your files self-extracting and name it "xxxxxx.sea." It will save us all a lot of pain, cursing the sender and suffering.
