Compare Files, Folders
Beyond Compare allows you to quickly and easily compare your files and folders. By using simple, powerful commands you can focus on the differences you're interested in and ignore those you're not. You can then merge the changes, synchronize your files, and generate reports for your records.
You can compare entire drives and folders at high speed, checking just sizes and modified times. Or, thoroughly verify every file with byte-by-byte comparisons. FTP sites and zip files are integrated seamlessly, so you can update your website with the touch of a button.
Once you've found specific files you're interested in, Beyond Compare can intelligently pick the best way to compare and display them. Text files can be viewed and edited with syntax highlighting and comparison rules tweaked specifically for documents, source code, and HTML. Data files, executables, binary data, and images all have dedicated viewers as well, so you always have a clear view of the changes.
New Features in BC3
Here are some of the significant new features in Beyond Compare 3. Items flagged with Pro only are available in the Pro edition of BC3.
Expanded Session concept
– Any comparison can be saved as a session, not just folder comparisons
– Plug-ins are now built-in session types
– Saved sessions can be organized in folders
– Auto-saved sessions
Fully unicode enabled
– Unicode filenames now supported as well as unicode file content
Interface Improvements
– Tabbed interface for session views
– Handy "home" view for launching and managing sessions
– Layout of open sessions can be saved, restored
– Built-in "Check for updates"
Folder compare features
– Folder icons colors now match your preferences
– Multiple operations can be queued
– File actions now respect filters by default
– Dedicated folder sync session
– Touch and Attrib commands can now recurse through subfolders
– Attrib supports Unix attributes
– New Ignored command flags mismatched file as OK
– New Move to Folder command
– Flatten folders lets you compare differing folder structures
– Pro only Alignment overrides
Text comparison features
– Full in-pane editor with dynamic re-comparisons
– Syntax highlighting
– Adaptive gutter buttons for copying sections
– Unlimited undo after save
– Grammar-based comparison rules
– Independent file formats for each side of the comparison
– New Ignored command flags mismatched sections as OK
– Multiple bookmarks
– Hex display option for line details
– Pro only 3-way text merge
– Pro only Replacements
Improved FTP support
– FTP profiles, selectable per session
– Multiple simultaneous connections
– Pro only Built-in support for secure FTP protocols (SFTP and FTP over SSL)
3-way Merge Pro edition only
Introduced in version 3, Beyond Compare's new merge view allows you to combine changes from two versions of a file into a single output. Its intelligent approach allows you to quickly accept most changes while carefully examining conflicts. Color coding and section highlighting allow you to accept, reject, or combine changes, simply and easily. And, you can change any line in the output with the built-in syntax-highlighting editor. By using Beyond Compare's powerful file type support and ability to favor changes from one file, you can trivially accept many changes without even seeing them.
You can use Beyond Compare directly from most version control systems, giving you all of the powerful comparing and merging support you need when you need it most. Integrated source control commands are also available, allowing you to check in and check out files without interrupting your work.
Synchronize Folders
Beyond Compare's intuitive Folder Sync interface lets you reconcile differences in your data automatically. You can efficiently update your laptop, backup your computer, or manage your website, and Beyond Compare will handle all the details. You can copy to and from disks, FTP servers, and zip files, all using the same interface. Anything you don't want affected can be easily filtered out, and all of the powerful comparison techniques are available, making the backup as fast or robust as you need.
You can automate repetitive tasks using a flexible scripting language, and any script can be called from the command line, allowing you to schedule your syncs for when it's most convenient.
System Requirements for Beyond Compare
Hardware Requirements
– Intel Pentium processor; 200 MHz or faster recommended
– 32 MB RAM; additional memory recommended for large comparisons
– 15 MB of available hard drive space
Supported Windows Platforms
(All service packs supported unless otherwise noted)
– Windows 95 OSR 2 and HTML Help
– Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME
– Windows NT 4.0 SP4 or later
– Windows 2000
– Windows XP
– Windows Server 2003
BC version 2.4 and later:
– Windows XP x64
– Windows Server 2003 x64
BC version 2.5 and later:
– Windows Vista
– Windows Vista x64
– Windows Server 2008
– Windows Server 2008 x64
BC version 3.1.3 and later, BC version 2.5.3:
– Windows 7
– Windows 7 x64
– Internet Explorer 4 or later required
Supported Linux Distributions
– Beyond Compare 3 does not run as a console application on Linux. It requires X-Windows.
– Supported Linux distributions
– Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, 5
– Fedora 4 - 14
– Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
– openSUSE 10.3 - 11.2
– Ubuntu 6.06 - 10.04
– Debian 5.04
– Mandriva 2010
– 64-bit distributions require 32-bit compatibility libraries. Using the .deb/.rpm packages with apt-get/yum, or your distribution's associated package manager will install them automatically.
Not Compatible
– Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
