Diskwarrior 3 Thoughts

[solrac]

I finally received my Diskwarrior 3 CD, after waiting for 23 billion years. (Alsoft has no download option, and somehow they can't press enough CDs to meet demand and can't ship the program out on demand. This still baffles me to this day...)

My thoughts:
It runs on the HD or starts up off the CD.

Running on HD
- It runs fast! Rebuilt my 30 GB iPod in like a minute!

- I can now optimize the disk! YAY!!! Finally optimization on OS X!

Running of Startup Diskwarrior CD
Apple severly crippled this. First of all, Apple does not license the Finder, so Alsoft had to have some crippled OS X startup folder. It takes FOREVER to start up, and since Apple refuses to license the Finder Alsoft had to write their own disk preview app (which looks like Transmit, comparing the original disk to the rebuilt disk in 2 different columns). And every time a new application opens (like diskwarrior help viewer, or the diswarrior preview window, or even the "about diskwarrior window"), it takes FOREVER!!!! Spinning beach ball for so long!

So what's with Apple? They used to license a full OS 9 startup disk with a finder and everything... why not for OS X?

Now... rebuilding my internal HD while starting up from the Diskwarrior CD... everything worked fine... but check this out:

/Applications/iDVD3/Important Notice/[any japanese folder]/[japanese text].rtfd

Notice those rtfd files. They are just "Important Notice.rtfd" written in those other languages. An rtfd file is really a folder, just like a .app file is really a folder too. But it looks like a Text Edit file.

But when Diskwarrior rebuilt the disk and optimized it, it changed those rtfd files into plain "Untitled" folders! The text and image content were still inside the folder, but what the hell? Oh well, small price to pay for optimizing my disk.

Overall grade:
A-

But Apple crippling the application in startup mode and the weird renaming of the folder takes it down:

B / B+

[JeffCGD]

Apple has nothing at all to do with OSX running slowly off the Discwarrior CD.
OSX running from a CD requires setting up a temporary SWAP file in RAM (a complicated and time consuming procedure, and reading system files off a CD, especially during startup from a CD, is very slow). Also, OSX - or any UNIX, for that matter - was never designed to run off a CD.
I have made a OSX emergency repair boot disc with BootCD, and see similar slow performance from running it off a CD. Bear in mind that OS9 ran slowly from a CD too.

[Snowball]

However, Apple has plenty to do with not licensing the Finder out to 3rd party companies, even though the logic of this system is somewhat contradictory.
As I understand it, Apple does not license the Finder because of concerns that anyone could reboot a Mac with that Finder-licensed CD and delete any file, as the super user would be the one on the CD, not the one on the HD. (i.e. permissions would be ignored on the HD.)

This logic fails however as one can easily create a bootup CD as JeffCGD describes and furthermore Apple themselves even allows one to reset the root password by booting an OS X install CD.

Not being able to run the Finder on a 3rd party CD is a new "feature" with OS X too, Apple always licensed the Finder out to Norton, Alsoft, etc. before and included the Finder with the OS 9 and lower install CDs. Perhaps this is because there were no permissions with OS 9, but when you see how easy it is to get past permissions on OS X machines it makes you wonder what Apple is doing.

[solrac]

Apple wouldn't refuse to license the finder for security reasons. There must be another reason. The security explanation is probably just a facade.

[Snowball]

Yeah, I certainly hope that's the case. I read that somewhere on MacFixIt I believe when people were wondering why it was hard to make a bootable CD, why Drive 10 didn't have a Finder, etc.

Anyway, it's easy enough to make a bootable CD with a Finder and all the disk repairing programs you'll ever need so I guess the issue is moot.

[mindbend]

I just got my CD as well, took about a month. Totally absurd.

There is a download option for new purchases, but not for upgrades. I think it's a scam and it worked on me.

I really needed DW a month ago when my machine crashed hard, so I went ahead and paid for the immediate download as a brand new purchase even though I'm a registered user and could have gotten the upgrade.

Good news is that once again DW saved my day. Amazing app.

Even with all the headaches, perceived scams, delayed shipments and lame websites, it's worth it. Best utility app in existence.

[solrac]

That is a TOTAL SCAM!!
Why would Alsoft associate the best disk utility software there is with a scam like that, and have their site to be so lame?