Counterpoint--Alsoft Disk Express Pro

"Actually, Alsoft has actually had all of * 3 * months "to bring Disk Express Pro up to HFS+ standards" as Apple's lengthy definitive documentation on HFS+ "TN1150: HFS Plus Volume Format" was only belatedly first issued in February 1999, and then a revised version of TN1150 was issued on 29th March 1999. The PDF version is some 245K in size.

If you follow Alsoft's web site and news items about Alsoft, you would perhaps know that they originally fully expected to release a HFS+ compliant version of Disk Express Pro by September 1998. Which is why when DiskWarrior was about to be released Alsoft made a special offer, on 23rd September 1998, for registered DX Pro users offering them a choice "...between a free copy of PlusOptimizer or DiskWarrior for a reduced price of $39.95, or both for $69.95". This offer only ceased a couple of weeks ago.

PlusOptimizer was derived from a smallish subset of the development version of Disk Express Pro, as Alsoft have stated on their site. Plainly, as PlusOptimizer does much less to do than DX Pro its preparation did not need such exhaustive details of the HFS+ standards as would a HFS+ compliant version of Disk Express Pro.

If anyone is to be blamed for these delays then it ought IMHO to be Apple rather than Alsoft. I have been a very satisfied customer of Alsoft since 1993, and I am very happy that they spend many months testing their products. After all if a defrag utility messes up then your data is toast. Better safe than very sorry indeed."