Be warned: this will hose your existing version 8 install, there is no turning back once you go to 9.

In the case of Retrospect. There was a day when this program was used by me, on Mac & PC it was worth every dollar I spent. However there came a time when the writers of this App Just left their users with no tech support and no newer versions to use with newer OS s . Numerous calls and messages were met by silence or promises well into the future, which were not fulfilled. in one case the worst was years.

In short Retrospect was the industry standard which fell to a point where it lost all respect as a choice of back up tool. May I suggest to the current writers of this version, Change the name and contact your former clients and attempt to undo some of the ill will which is out there.
You need not contact me , because the damage caused was too great.

I've used Retrospect since OS 9 and this is by far the best version. It works so much faster than version 6. Restores could not be easier. I noticed comments below that restores of single files are difficult or impossible. Just use the search option and pick the file or files you want to restore and it puts the files in a folder under Macintosh HD or overwrites the file if you choose. I recommend it highly. It is simply unbelievable how much faster than version 6 was at doing backups. It never crashes, hangs or double launches. It is simply rock solid.

Changing my review to 1 star.

There is an occasional bug that causes a script to forget which dataset it belongs to. Additionally, another bug forgets your sources as well.
Of course when these things happen, your backups get screwed up, so FYI.

Better yet, stay away unless you are desperate.

I recently had to recover some files from an old Retrospect backup, made with version 6. The one positive thing to say is that eventually the support team managed to get me set up to recover my files.

The other positive thing is that the program is quite capable, it is just nearly impossible to efficiently use it.

The troubles with Retrospect are legion, as noted by other reviewers. Major problem areas include:

UI: The user interface is extremely un-mac like. Error messages are often obscure. Windows don't come to the front properly.

Compatibility: The program uses its own drivers for block devices, which makes it a real pain to find a device it works with, particularly with optical drives. The new version 8 is incompatible with archives from older versions, like 6.

Support: My initial requests for assistance were responded to, 4 business days later, with a minor modification of a standard response.

The only way I was able to recover older backups was to install an old version of the software and then locate an older drive supported by that version of the software.

The developer really ought to realize this dog has had his day. Provide some basic support for existing customers and come up with a responsible retirement schedule.

I was VERY down on Retrospect with constant kernel panics and freeze ups after the latest OS update.

I tried everything to no avail and then I figured it out.

If you have an Intel Mac and this sounds familiar go to library/preferences/retrospect and remove all the files named devicexx.rdi. I had 15 of them. Put in the latest driver update and then restart.

As soon as I did that Shazam it works like a charm and I am back in business.

Why does THIS crash every time I attempt to open it, and why does the original full version that came with my Maxtor OneTouch II also crash when I attempt to open it? This blows :-( for me.