64-bit version for Mac?

[Aaron]

That statement made me pause... I think I will now wait for the official release. I was trying to figure out whether to buy this product -- or Kaleidascope (which from the release notes -- I get the feeling it may not have active development as much)... so now I think I will just wait a bit.

You (probably) won't have to wait long. We can finally announce BC 4.3's upcoming technical test for 64bit and macOS 10.15 support:
https://www.scootersoftware.com/vbul...ta-coming-soon

Before any purchase is necessary, please try the fully featured trial. Just be aware that this first release is an early release, and we would appreciate any feedback for issues found during testing on various hardware and MacOS version combinations.

[macandrice]

That statement made me pause... I think I will now wait for the official release. I was trying to figure out whether to buy this product -- or Kaleidascope (which from the release notes -- I get the feeling it may not have active development as much)... so now I think I will just wait a bit.

Zoë's statement was both honest and ill-advised, but nevertheless BC is your best option on the Mac.

Kaleidascope is beautiful to look at but horrible to use, is missing a ton of functionality compared to BC, and as you noted, hasn't really been actively developed in years. And it's way overpriced.

DeltaWalker is neither beautiful to look at nor use, is also missing a ton of functionality comparatively, and you can only copy one set of data between the source/destination at the same time. (I regularly have four or five going at once in a session on BC.) It also doesn't have any ongoing development; I got it in 2015 as part of a bundle, and I don't think it's changed at all since then. (About shows copyright of 2004-2016, e.g.)

BC is ugly as sin (it looks like a Windows app), but it's fast, it has a boatload of functionality, and it's mostly well-supported (64-bit OSX notwithstanding).

Wait for the official release or not, your choice, but BC is the best at what it does, even (especially?) on a Mac.

(Not affiliated, etc., etc. In fact, I've given them my share of grief over the years, but it's because I use it so much. )

[ericfxd0]

Official statement on our macOS 64-bit release:

https://www.scootersoftware.com/vbul...ta-coming-soon

Does this support the system-wide dark mode feature? I imagine this would be the easiest way to offer that functionality unless BC's interface is too complex for it to work out of the box.

[Zoë]

Does this support the system-wide dark mode feature?

Not yet. Upgrading to Cocoa got us a lot of the way there, but we have to redo a bunch of graphics and custom drawing to make it usable. Dark mode is on our radar though.

[Aaron]

Hello,

We have a technical test available for those that want to try out the new 64-bit MacOS build. This build is mandatory for the MacOS 10.15 Catalina beta.
http://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=beta43

This has been a significant rewrite and there are many bugs we are still working on. If you are interesting in helping us track these down and squash them, we would appreciate the help testing. You can review a Known Issues list here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/cocoa_status.php

Emailing [email protected] with your BCSupport.zip (Beyond Compare menu -> Support; Export), including a saved BCCrashReport.txt, any helpful sample files, and steps that lead to the crash, will greatly help us track down new issues as they crop up.

[carburettor]

Great News!! You made my day! Thanks!!!

[cstern]

is there a dedicated forum for beta users? If so, I'd love to be added. Thanks - has been waiting for this for a while.

[cstern]

As a new version is approaching, I'd like to advocate a small feature that would be very nice. When using a NAS, the network drives are mounted to /Volumes and can usually be seen as an icon on the desktop. As an example I have a NAS where I have a drive I mount as "xutils". When I use BC for mac the drive is not readily visible, but I have to navigate to /Volumes and then set basefolder to /Volumes/xutils. From there all is fine.

I would like the NAS drives to show up in the "Browse for folder" dialog box, just as mounted disk (install) images are. As mentioned it IS possible to navigate to the mounted drive but having it in the dialog box would be much more convenient.




"nor" below should have been "not" - too lazy to correct :-)

[Zoë]

is there a dedicated forum for beta users? If so, I'd love to be added. Thanks - has been waiting for this for a while.

We don't have a dedicated beta forum right now. Feel free to start new threads in the existing Mac forum for any issues you find.

[Aaron]

Thanks cstern. The beta has a rigid schedule and we will need to focus on stability and bug fixes to get a full 4.3 64bit macOS release out as soon as possible. I'll add your feature request notes to our Customer Wishlist, but it is unlikely to make it into an initial 4.3 release.

[derbbre]

As a new version is approaching, I'd like to advocate a small feature that would be very nice. When using a NAS, the network drives are mounted to /Volumes and can usually be seen as an icon on the desktop. As an example I have a NAS where I have a drive I mount as "xutils". When I use BC for mac the drive is not readily visible, but I have to navigate to /Volumes and then set basefolder to /Volumes/xutils. From there all is fine.

I would like the NAS drives to show up in the "Browse for folder" dialog box, just as mounted disk (install) images are. As mentioned it IS possible to navigate to the mounted drive but having it in the dialog box would be much more convenient.

Another option (it's another step, but you should only need to do it once) is to move the mounted NAS volume to your "Favorites" in the Finder. Once it is there, you will see it in the BC4 Browse dialog as well (as long as it is currently mounted):

[ericfxd0]

Not yet. Upgrading to Cocoa got us a lot of the way there, but we have to redo a bunch of graphics and custom drawing to make it usable. Dark mode is on our radar though.

Any chance we could see a screenshot of the dark mode WIP?

[Zoë]

Any chance we could see a screenshot of the dark mode WIP?

Sorry, no. To clarify "on our radar": We are aware of the demand for it, but have not said it's under development or if/when it will be released. It will not be in v4.3. I wish we could be more open about current development and future plans, but we don't want to disappoint customers if we have to cut something or change the schedule, so we generally won't announce features until they're ready for public release.

[ericfxd0]

Sorry, no. To clarify "on our radar": We are aware of the demand for it, but have not said it's under development or if/when it will be released. It will not be in v4.3. I wish we could be more open about current development and future plans, but we don't want to disappoint customers if we have to cut something or change the schedule, so we generally won't announce features until they're ready for public release.

I understand, and it makes total sense. Thanks for letting me know.

[jmyers]

No worries, Zoë, dark mode is totally a bonus. I'm thrilled to have a beta to use; it's been solid to this point. Only real issue I've noticed is some slowness while scrolling within a file compare. Likely something you'll have worked out over time. I'm excited to have a solidly usable version of my favorite comparison tool that'll work with the next version of macOS.

As far as I'm concerned, feel free to make this a paid upgrade if it makes sense. I've gotten a ridiculous amount of value out of this tool for years; I'd happily pay again to support your continued development.