From: justin@mik.uky.edu (Justin Sullivan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: SpeedyFinder7 vs. CopyDoubler
Date: 2 Oct 92 12:51:03 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

Leo Breebaart writes
> Two utilities are currently available that both promise to speed up copying
> in the Finder. First came the shareware SpeedyFinder7 (AU$ 20,-) by Victor
> Tan; last week we saw the release of CopyDoubler ($60,-) by Fifth
> Generation Systems. Both utilities do a host of other Finder enhancement
> stuff as well, but I decided to put their copying speedups to the test. All
> tests were performed on an 8 Mb SE/30 with a 19 ms hard disk and a
> superdrive, running System 7.0.1 and one of the two utilities at a time,
> without any other inits. I decided not to tempt fate by trying to see what
> would happen if I ran both of them together :-)

Doesn't seem to cause a problem on my SE/30.. Then again, I don't load but a  
few INITs.. :) (oh, and I forgot that SpeedyFinder was running.. :)
 
[concise, meaningful comparison table deleted]

> 2) SpeedyFinder and CopyDoubler handle large bulk transfers equally well.
> The same goes for reading from any type of floppy.

More on this in a minute..
 
> 4) SpeedyFinder shows a strange anomaly in that it takes just as long to
> fill a 1.3 Mb floppy as it does to fill a 800 Kb floppy! I tried this
> *four* times to be sure, and each time the same thing happened...

That is peculiar.. Did you mention this to Victor the Patron Saint of Mac  
Users? :)
 
> 5) I also did some quick informal testing with reading and writing to
> File-Shared volumes over AppleTalk, and the results are again amazing. When
> you have to copy data to or from a slooooow target you will really
> appreciate the difference these utilities make...

This is what I wanted to talk about..
Did your tests include SpeedyFinder's 'Large Transfers' options? The  
documentation doesn't really describe what they do, but a little  
experimentation told me.. :) The "large, bulk transfers" you mentioned are  
significantly faster with these options on, particularly (it seems) over the  
network (and I'm on LocalTalk, so I need every speedup I can get). I just  
installed the CopyDoubler demo last night before I went home, so I haven't  
had time to test out how CopyDoubler handles large network file transfers.  
The disadvantage (sort of) to SpeedyFinder's 'Large Transfers' options is  
that you cannot cancel the transfer, but then, what would be the point of  
transferring it? :)

> Advantages of SpeedyFinder: the usual shareware advantages (cheap, author
> reachable through e-mail, quick distribution of new versions), lots of
> other neat options, retains Finder-like appearances completely so you never
> notice it's there.  

I noticed a lot of peculiar similarities in the configuration panels between  
the two programs. I was very surprised to see that CopyDoubler had quite a  
Spartan appearance, like SpeedyFinder. Victor mentioned that interface  
improvements were up and coming. This is purely cosmetic (i.e., SpeedyFinder  
has a nice icon, but the configuration panels are quite plain), but it  
imparts a sense of hard work to the user.. I mean, if someone isn't proud  
enough of their software to give it an appealing interface, the user might  
think it's a piece of junk. There is a lot of junk in the Mac community..
 
> Disadvantages of SpeedyFinder: the usual shareware disadvantages (no
> guaranteed support, guaranteed bugfixes or guaranteed future development),
> reported to be unstable to various degrees: some folks had no choice but to
> trash it. Personally, I have more than 3 rows of inits and yet I have no
> fatal problems with SpeedyFinder, but your mileage will very likely vary.
> And it's slower then CopyDoubler...

But not by much.. :)
 
> Advantages of CopyDoubler: the usual commercial advantages (phone-support;
> guaranteed (more or less) bugfixes and future development). Faster then
> SpeedyFinder. Does some other very neat things. Works well with AutoDoubler
> which is from the same folks.

It's a shame it doesn't do background copying like CopyRight.. Victor said in  
the documentation that background Finder 7 copying would be impossible, since  
the floppy driver is in ROM, BUT.. CopyRight achieves its goal just by  
replacing/modifying the Finder's copy routines, so maybe it *IS* possible  
under SpeedyFinder. But never look a gift horse in the mouth.. 
 
> Disadvantages of CopyDoubler: the usual commercial disadvantages
> (expensive; slow upgrades, money-grubbing capitalistic imperialist company,
> salesdroids, authors less responsive to your feedback).  Replaces Finder
> copy window with a butt-ugly atrocity that has COPYDOUBLER and FIFTH
> GENERATION SYSTEMS in huge letters all over it and does not look even
> remotely like a real Finder window. Ugh, aaargh, barf. A little less ego
> would have been nice. I have not used CopyDoubler extensively, so its
> stability and robustness is unknown to me.

See what I mean? Atrocious interfaces discourage the well-heeled user.
SpeedyFinder isn't 'butt-ugly' like CopyDoubler, though..
 
> My recommendation: I'll stick with SpeedyFinder for now, because I like its
> advantages better then CopyDoubler's (and because CopyDoubler's intrusive
> copy window is just too much for me!). From my e-mail conversations with
> Victor I understand that there will be many changes, bugfixes and
> improvements in future SpeedyFinder versions.  But I fully realize that
> CopyDoubler's speed is the best for now, and that its other options are
> mondo cool as well.  

It's also nice to keep your money if you can! :) The author is very  
sympathetic to realistic user input and comments. Good point. This is  
certainly something Salient probably doesn't know anything about, although I  
would like to point out that the CopyDoubler Demo release notes say that  
Salient is reachable through e-mail at salient@aol.com and  
salient@apple.applelink.com.

> So you know what?  Don't listen to *me*, go check it out for it yourself.
> Both utilities are available from sumex and umich. Go have a look and see
> if you don't agree with me: every Mac user will want to have one of these
> two installed in his system. Mark my words.
			       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

How's that? :)
Yeah, what he said.. Run, do not idle, to mac.archive.umich.edu and knock  
yourself out (and let me know if anything goes awry while you're there.. Our  
archive machines seem to be in need of an exorcism).

P.S. [(C) Adobe, Inc.]
I wish there were more informative, objective commentaries and comparisons  
around, rather then some half-assed, religious ferver or ludicrous ads from  
certain companies.. I won't mention any names, but they make PasteUp for the  
NeXT! 
I mean, I'm glad the companies are around, but I don't like to have products  
stuffed down my throat. 

<only a personal opinion>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system