KP.GORES  This was useful under system 9, but nowadays there are many alternatives and, even better, free ones that run more stable.

The user interface is confusing, support is almost non-existent.

It is stable, as long as all your disks stay online. But if a removable disappears or two disks have the same name (after all, it is a backup disk), synchronize gets confused.   
(Version 6.0.5)

TACALIT  I was planning to buy this software despite the price until I read more about the licencing policy. So I've decided to wait the first update after the full Snow Leopard version comes out, whitch should be the one without main SnowLeo issue...

This is a way to maximize the weird Qdea licencing program....

But in the meantime, I'm going to check the competitors.  
(Version 6.1)

KBEAT  An okay piece of software that does more or less what it's supposed to do, although I've had to deal with a few bugs.

Bugs are okay, in that they are a fact of life when dealign with software. An since Qdea, like most companies, releases software patches to deal with them, it would not be an issue. It would not be an issue that if, if it weren't for Qdea's horrendous licensing policy. Rather than being based on the version you own, it's time based.

So, for example, if you have version 5.0.6, and they release a patch that fixes a bug in version 5.0.7, you'd think that patch would be free, right? Nope, not if you bought version 5 twenty four months ago. You'll have to pay for a full version upgrade to get a .01 patch.

I'll happily pay for an upgrade when it brings new features to the table that I can use. But I simply won't pay for .01 bug patches. As a result, Qdea lost a customer and I moved to a competitor.   
(Version 6.0)

UNCOY  Every time you run Synchronize! Pro , it installs parasiteware in the background of your Mac which is very difficult to turn off. The parasiteware doesn't do much except steal processor cycles (going up and down between 0 and 6% in my experience).

That's a pretty heavy performance price to pay.

Synchronize! Pro X used to be a great product. Then the developer became more obsessed with all the unlicensed copies in use rather than the licensed copies that are in use.

Hugh Sontag would do well to make his customers advocates, knock his price down a bit and sell to a much wider public.

Instead he gives rude answers and cripples our computers.

Look elsewhere.  
(Version 5.1.3)

MACVAULT  Synch Pro X is the best, most reliable backup solution I've ever used (and I've used almost all of them). It has never crashed on me, and simply does what it's supposed to do, when it's supposed to do it without fail. Very solid little program. My only complaint is that the GUI is in the dark ages and really needs a major overhaul in that area. I don't like that each plan lives in it's own window. It should be simplified to use one window that shows all plans and the interface should be spiffied up to look like it belongs on the Mac -Leopard platform. Other than that, I highly recommend this for all your backup and cloning needs.  
(Version 6.0.6)

PURDUEJIM  I have been using SyncPro for years for synchronizing data from a desktop to a laptop. It is very powerful and though I certainly do not use each feature, I have found it exceedingly reliable, fast and user friendly in many years of using it . I have never had a data loss using it and has saved me many times from losing valuable files. I have also found support to be friendly, timely, of excellent quality, and easy to understand. Most little problems I have had over the years were caused by my misunderstanding setup issues and support has held my hand and walked me through correcting my mistakes every time. I can also say these issues have been few and far between. I cannot recommend it more highly.

James Lee  
(Version 5.1.3)

DONMONTALVO  Long time owner...waiting for option to NOT display contents of *.graffle files when there's a difference...but rather to show modification of the actual *.graffle file.

Not looking to wrestle with the developer, merely asking for an option to ONLY show difference time. I asked for this back in the Spring. Switched to Synk (which ONLY displays *.graffle file but not contents), would like to switch back.

Don  
(Version 5.1.3)

RIDGES  I've been using SP for four years and it has been truly invaluable, keeping my documents folder on a desktop and laptop perfectly synched. It has not corrupted a file a single time to my knowledge. The bootable backups boot perfectly. I just updated to 5.1.3, but the prior version, 5.0.3x never crashed.

The setup is a little awkward, but not a big deal and you only do it initially - running the synchs is easy. Backups are critical to your happiness, so spend a little time to set things up right for yourself. Would I want a slick "metal" interface - noooo way. I want the programmer guy spending his time on data integrity and reliability. Do I want a creative kind of guy coding backup software? No, I want an anal-retentive, list making, accountant-type of unimaginative nerd.

A complaint about the backups is incrementals are done using a hierarchy of "archives". I would prefer to simply set a back date and browse files directly. It is, however, easy to find an earlier version by browsing the archive as necessary.

Bottom line is that for absolutely critical data integrity I have not had a problem for four years and for that I will put up with anything and the $99 is not unreasonable compared to all the buggy junk out there for cheaper. If you have a crashed computer you will pay anything to get your data back. Do not compromise on your backup strategy in order to save a few bucks.

#1 Gripe is license agreement as others have pointed out, although he's changed it so you can use it on two computers, but with restrictions on the second. To restrict use on the other computer is ridiculous - the software's purpose is to synchronize two computers, so the software has to be available on both computers - simple. Note to Qdea: please just remove the silly restriction on the second computer. How many users will actually pay you twice? Answer: the nicest, most ethical and well-meaning people on Earth. They deserve a break please give it to them.  
(Version 5.1.3)

BITURBO27T  Just downloaded v 5.1. Crashes immediately under OS 10.4. Reverting back to 5.0.7 works fine. I haven't loaded Leopard yet, but will try this version again when I do, even though the description says that 5.1 is still compatible with 10.3-10.4.

I'd recommend holding off on this one unless you're ready to do some troubleshooting.  
(Version 5.1)

VICLEN  I've owned SP for some time, using it to provide an hourly backup for my studio's files. Two bugs appeared: an error of "too many open files"; and a "can't find disk XXX" even though the disk was clearly visible on the desktop. This happened with both Mac OS X Server 10.3 and 10.4. I lived with this for some time, finding that quitting SP and relaunching solved both problems - but this is backup software, it's commercially priced and shouldn't have these problems.

I reported them to tech support and was told: "Synchronize! Pro X asks to close every file it opens. It couldn't work properly if it didn't, because the maximum number of open files is 256, and Synchronize! Pro X routinely copies hundreds of thousands of files in its backups."

"I have no other reports of a similar problem, despite the fact that Synchronize! Pro X is in daily use on tens of thousands of computers worldwide."

"What this means to me is that your computer is not operating properly. If it were my computer, I would use Disk Utility to "Repair Disk". If the problem persisted, I would reinstall OS X in an attempt to eliminate the problem."

My knowledge of Macs is quite extensive and I didn't believe this. Sloth confirmed the existence of numerous temporary files. Tech support then commented: "Mea culpa! I've attached a version of Synchronize! Pro X that I believe no longer exhibits the problem."

I tried using the v5.0.8 beta but it wouldn't accept my serial number. What followed was numerous emails back and forth and a call to Hugh Sontag (both tech director and tech support) in the States. He absolutely refused to give me a working serial number, insisting this was user error. I'm positive it isn't but even if it is, what kind of company takes such an arrogant, intractable approach?

In the end, I gave up. I bought Tri Backup (at half the price) which works perfectly, especially as my server is working on a non-Intel machine (Tri Backup is PPC only).

The moral? Never trust *any* company that has a "lots of people use our product and no one complains" attitude.

Vic  
(Version 5.0.7b)