Best Efficiency - Binaries %/min efficiency % saved DiskDoubler 3.1 "Method A" 18.21 25.19% StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 "Faster" 14.62 13.89% Compactor 13.90 41.94% DiskDoubler 3.1 "Method B" 11.91 35.34% Best Efficiency - Graphics %/min efficiency % saved DiskDoubler 3.1 "Method A" 39.15 47.63% StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 "Faster" 34.95 33.20% StuffIt Classic 1.6 "Fast" 28.34 49.13% StuffIt 1.5.1 "Try both" 25.51 48.47% Best Efficiency - Text %/min efficiency % saved DiskDoubler 3.1 "Method A" 140.21 51.41% Compactor 87.54 53.98% DiskDoubler 3.1 "Method B" 83.22 48.54% DiskDoubler 3.1 "Smallest" 71.74

At least a few people out there want to decompress files for some strange reason and might be interested in how fast the various compression programs do this

Compactor, a relatively recent introduction into the compression world from Bill Goodman, takes the simple approach: easy, fast, and compact. In all of the trials, Compactor files were never more than 1% larger than StuffIt Deluxe's "Better"/"Best Guess" modes, but anywhere from 25% to 400% faster

I've been a big fan of StuffIt ever since Raymond Lau released it way back when. Before that, PackIt was the standard, and it didn't take long before everyone noticed that StuffIt was faster and better

DiskDoubler was the biggest surprise for me, probably because I was least familiar with it. When I ran the "Text" test on it, all I could say was "Wow." No wonder Apple decided that a site-license for it would be a good thing

The common denominator remains the old StuffIt 1.5.1 format, since all of the compression programs can expand 1.5.1 files (this is why we included a StuffIt 1.5.1 file in the decompression tests)

This item snuck in just a few minutes before our deadline. Apple announced today that a new, backlit version of the Macintosh Portable is available to order

Back in October, we mentioned that Apple was talking to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) about opening up part of the radio spectrum and creating a new class of data communications,

Mitch Kapor's ON Technology gave up its grandiose idea of totally altering the look and feel of personal computing and instead came out with ON Location, a program that indexes hard disks for easy searching and retrieval of files

I'm not a terrific typist, although my typing speed has probably increased by at least 15 words per minutes since I've been writing TidBITS. Still, every now and then a mistake appears that I'm sure I'm not responsible for

I'm a week late (I've been gathering info) on writing about GO Corp.'s announcement that developers will soon have access to GO's new PenPoint operating system

The termites in the wainscotting of the Macintosh market are on the march again. The original and most persistent termite is David Small, wizard at large, and producer of a line of increasingly sophisticated Macintosh emulators for the Atari ST line

United States mail, known as snail mail in electronic circles, is private. Among the federal crimes that you don't want to be found guilty of are opening other people's mail and tampering with their mailboxes

In the never-ending effort to implement a disk backup method that offers users both transparency and complete control, SuperMac technology and Dantz Development each recently shipped upgrades to their backup programs, DiskFit 2.0 and Retrospect 1.2. DiskFit 2.0 is a major upgrade from the previous version and includes a host of new features that promise to make DiskFit competitive with Retrospect as one of the premier backup programs, though DiskFit retains its "feature" of keeping files in Finder-readable format

By now most people are aware of the controversy surrounding extended use of video display terminals. Some people, most notably author Paul Brodeur, claim that VDTs emit harmful levels of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic radiation