MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jennifer Lyng or Nicole Rowland
pr@aladdinsys.com
(831) 761-6200 x7
http://www.aladdinsys.com/pressroom
ALADDIN ANNOUNCES STUFFIT DELUXE 5.0-NEW FORMAT INCREASES COMPRESSION BY
20% AND CREATES UNIQUE CROSS-PLATFORM SOLUTION
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 Has Better Compression, Supports OS 8.5 And
The New MacBinary III Format, Has More Email Support, And
Continues To Be The Leading-Edge Internet Compression Standard
Watsonville, CA- October 7, 1998 – Aladdin Systems today announced it is
accepting pre-orders for StuffIt(R) Deluxe 5.0, expected to ship at the end
of October. The new upgrade includes tighter compression, Mac OS 8.5
compatibility, support for more expansion formats like MacBinary III,
additional email program support for Outlook Express, and much more.
“We are excited that StuffIt’s new format dramatically increases the ease
of cross platform information exchange,” said Marty McGillivray, product
manager. “With the release of Aladdin’s DropStuff for Windows, there is now
a common format for StuffIt archives on both Windows and Macintosh
platforms. This advancement coupled with StuffIt Deluxe 5.0’s increased
compression creates a unique solution for the real world where Macintosh
and Windows users co-exist.”
New StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 Features And Benefits Include:
*New StuffIt technology provides 20% compression improvement
*Mac OS 8.5 compatibility (and backward compatibility to System 7.5.3)
*Support for new MacBinary III format
*Updated transparent cross-platform file format interchange
*More “Stuff and Mail” compression and email support in Magic Menu extension
*Archive Via Rename (AVR) and Magic Menu support for .hqx and .bin
*Ability to remove “.sea” and replace with “.sit” for fast archive viewing
*”Get Info” archive comments now saved between de/compression functions
*Archive content verification
*Web connectivity allows easy product registration and answers to Aladdin
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
Best Compression with new StuffIt Technology
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 provides 20% better compression than previous versions.
The new StuffIt saves more hard drive space and speeds Internet. StuffIt
Deluxe 5.0 stores file names in Unicode, allowing for better cross-platform
and international support. The new format also lets users choose between
“Maximum” or “Fast” compression.
New OS Compatibility
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 is compatible with a 68020 processor or greater running
System 7.5.3 to 8.5. Version 5.0 also works with old StuffIt archives
(version 4.5 and earlier).
Support for New MacBinary III Format
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 supports the MacBinary III format in Mac OS 8.5 and
offers backward compatibility with earlier formats. For new Mac OS 8.5
users, MacBinary III support in StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 is required to retain
icon badges and custom routing information with file transfers over the
Internet. Some web browsers depend on applications like StuffIt to
transparently access files that may not be correctly identified as “.bin”
files.
Updated Transparent Windows/DOS File Interchange
“Type” and “creator” coding for files received by Windows/DOS platforms are
recognized by Internet Config (a popular program to help users to set-up
their software configurations.) If a user doesn’t have Internet Config,
then StuffIt uses a similar (to Internet Config) updated table of
extensions for Windows/DOS files This table of codes displays accurate
internal file information to help identify the best Macintosh application
to use with these files.
Additional “Stuff And Mail” Email Support In Magic Menu
Integration with email software is easy with the “Stuff and Mail” feature
from Magic Menu. Support for MS Outlook Express and Bare Bones’ Mailsmith
was added to existing email support for AOL, Eudora, Claris EMailer,
QuickMail Pro, QuarterDeck Mail and Lotus cc:Mail.
Added Archive Via Rename And Magic Menu
.hqx And .bin Functionality The renaming functionality of Archive Via
Rename and the Magic Menu compression extension has been extended to
include BinHex (.hqx) and MacBinary (.bin) to give eight options for
renaming archives right from the Finder. Rename options include: Stuff
(.sit), Make Self-Extracting (.sea), BinHex (.hqx), MacBinary (.bin), Stuff
and BinHex (sit.hqx), Make Self-Extracting BinHex (.sea.hqx), Stuff and
MacBinary (.sit.bin), and Make Self-Extracting MacBinary (.sea.bin).
Ability To Remove .Sea And Replace With .Sit For Fast Archive Viewing Magic
Menu has a new “Remove Self-Extracting” feature that allows users to easily
remove the self-extracting (.sea) code, leaving in its place a StuffIt
(.sit) archive. This allows users to view and manipulate the contents of
archives with the StuffIt Browser instead of having to launch the StuffIt
Deluxe application.
Retain Archive Information In Finder’s “Get Info” Comments
Valuable information stored in the Finder’s Get Info comments can now be
retained when saving and restoring compressed documents.
Archive Content Verification
Magic Menu now gives the ability to verify the integrity of StuffIt
archives. A user can select one or more archives (or a folder containing
archives) for StuffIt to check and verify. The StuffIt verification checks
for damaged data that may render the contents of the archive partially or
entirely unusable.
Web Connectivity Help
A web support application within StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 allows users to
register their product quickly and efficiently via the Aladdin web site.
Users can also be directly connected to Aladdin’s technical support help
pages, where they can find Aladdin contact information, as well as answers
to frequently asked questions.
Other Features Included In StuffIt Deluxe
StuffIt Deluxe continues to include previous features from earlier versions
like DropSegment, a drag-and-drop segmenting tool for transporting large
files on removable media, and StuffIt SpaceSaver, an easy-to-use,
transparent compression software tool that helps make more space available
on hard disks.
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 has added DropConverter(tm), which allows users to
convert their old archives to the new StuffIt format. StuffIt Deluxe
continues to take advantage of True Finder Integration (TFI), a control
panel that acts as a central location where users can tailor StuffIt’s
integration into the Mac OS Finder.
The TFI control panel includes the StuffIt Browser(tm), Magic Menu(tm), and
Archive Via Rename(tm). These features have been enhanced to maximize user
efficiency.
StuffIt Deluxe continues to be able to access all the popular file formats
found online with StuffIt Expander 5.0: StuffIt (.sit), Compact Pro (.cpt),
AppleLink (.pkg), ZIP (.zip), ARC (.arc), gzip (.gz), tar (.tar), Unix
Compress (.Z), LHA (.lha), uuencode (.uu), BinHex (.hqx), MacBinary (.bin),
Base64/MIME, and SpaceSaver-compressed files. StuffIt can also access
Private File documents and StuffIt-segmented files.
The StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 CD also includes the latest versions of Aladdin
Expander freeware and Aladdin DropStuff for Windows. Adding the Windows
compression and expansion software makes file access transparent for
multi-platform businesses and users that have both Macs and PCs.
Availability, Pricing and Requirements
Aladdin is extending a special upgrade offer to previous registered owners
of StuffIt Deluxe and DropStuff with Expander Enhancer through its website,
Aladdin’s customer service, and retail and catalog rebates. This offer
expires March 31, 1999. Retail upgrade offers vary by country. Contact
Aladdin’s customer service for ordering information at (831)761-6200 x4 or
go to the website for pre-order information: http://www.aladdinsys.com, for
international partners go to
http://www.aladdinsys.com/order/international.html
StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 is the most complete commercial compression software and
carries an estimated US street price of $79.95. StuffIt Deluxe is available
throughout the US and all leading mail order and retail computer stores,
and is distributed by Ingram Micro, Merisel and The Douglas Stewart
Company. Check Aladdin’s web site for the international channel partners:
http://www.aladdinsys.com/order/international.html. More information on
StuffIt Deluxe will be available for media at ship time:
http://www.aladdinsys.com/pressroom/
StuffIt Deluxe is compatible with any 68020 Macintosh computer (or later)
with 8MB of RAM and System 7.5.3 or higher, or Mac OS 8.X. The StuffIt
Deluxe application and the StuffIt Engine are now PowerPC native.
Aladdin Systems: Making Access Transparent – Founded in 1988, Aladdin
Systems, Inc. is celebrating 10 years of developing and publishing
award-winning business and consumer products. Aladdin publishes StuffIt(R),
the worldwide compression standard; Aladdin FlashBack(tm), unlimited
“Undos” and instant access to any document version in any application;
Private File(tm), the easiest cross-platform security software, Spring
Cleaning(tm), the best-selling uninstaller for the Mac; InstallerMaker(tm),
the Macintosh installation and distribution standard, ShrinkWrap(tm), the
quickest and easiest way to create and distribute disk images, and Aladdin
Desktop Magician(tm), a personalized desktop file management tool. Aladdin
products are designed to make life easier by helping users take full
advantage of their computers.
Aladdin is located at 165 Westridge Drive, Watsonville, CA 95076, USA;
telephone: (831)761-6200; URL: http://www.aladdinsys.com; e-mail:
info@aladdinsys.com.