64-bit version for Mac?

[Zoë]

BC 4.3 introduced support for 64-bit processors. It runs on macOS ARM too, though we haven’t released a native version of that yet.

[etyrnal]

how does one get into the 64bit beta program?

[etyrnal]

did 64bit support never materialize? caught between a rock and a hard place with upgrading a Mac Pro -- BC is the last holdout hanging up the needful upgrade.

[Zoë]

With Catalina out, is it safe to upgrade and use the beta version or better to wait for the final release?

We've gotten several reports of a crash when closing tabs, which we have reproduced and will hopefully have fixed quickly enough to still get the official release out this week. Based on the initial research, turning off "Hide tab bar if single tab" in Preferences > Tabs should make it less likely to occur.

Aside from that, the beta has been pretty stable, which is actually why we had fewer beta releases than we originally expected. If you're itching to get on Catalina, I wouldn't let BC stop you, but I'd suggest saving frequently.

[ericfxd0]

Hi Team Scooter,

With Catalina out, is it safe to upgrade and use the beta version or better to wait for the final release?

[Aaron]

Mostly, although with each Catalina beta release, we can't anticipate if there would be another breaking change. We would appreciate more BC4.3 beta feedback if you decide to use it.

[sferrari63]

I get the impression that for a non-power user (I mostly compare files my local release directory to files on the production machine via FTP and transfer when happy), the 64-bit version is probably stable enough, now that the "upside down" problem has been fixed. Is that fair to say?

I've screwed myself (with Apple's assistance) by upgrading my phone to iOS 13 and not reading the fine print, so I can't share reminders between it and my Mac until I upgrade to Catalina. Unfortunately, I rely on this quite a bit, so I'd like to jump on Catalina pretty quickly when it's out...but I can't do that without BC.

Thanks for any feedback.

[ings]

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.

As a longtime Beyond Compare user, first on Windows and then on Mac, I'd like to +1 this thought.

Dave Ings

[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.

[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.

[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]

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?

[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):

[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.

[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.