PlusOptimizer Jumps, DiskExpress Pro Upgrade Promised -- Little more than a week after Alsoft released the $29.95 PlusOptimizer, the company's disk optimization software that works with HFS Plus volumes (see the TidBITS Update "PlusOptimizer Defragments HFS Plus Volumes"), a free update to version 1.1 has appeared. The update enables PlusOptimizer to work even in the presence of directory damage that Disk First Aid can't repair, adds an optimization report, lets users anchor and unanchor files, and provides a more accurate progress bar. To receive the free update, existing users must use Alsoft's email service that verifies registration numbers before mailing the 532K file.

<http://www.alsoft.com/plusoptimizer.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/04937>

Several readers expressed confusion with our coverage of PlusOptimizer, which implements only some of the features of DiskExpress Pro. Although no statements have been published on the company's Web site, Alsoft has said to several readers that they will provide the Mac OS 8.1 and HFS Plus-compatible upgrade to DiskExpress Pro for free to existing customers. In the meantime, some DiskExpress Pro users have felt that they have no choice but to buy PlusOptimizer as an interim solution until the DiskExpress Pro upgrade ships. The other option, of course, is not to worry about disk fragmentation issues since the concern often outweighs the reality of the performance problems related to fragmentation. A simple backup and restore also eliminates all fragmentation, and you do have good backups, don't you? [ACE]