I thought I was having a flashback when I saw this listed! StuffIt and StuffIt Expander were must-have utility programs back when macOS was known as "System Software" (version s 6.x, 7.x, etc.). Now there is a built-in archiving program as well as a number of other cost-free programs that handle pretty much ever archiving algorithm extant.
This might be of sentimental value, but I'm not sure what the value-add is here.
Not sure why they bothered with this update. It is still broken with Mojave (on APFS volumes anyway). Used to be I could compress applications with StuffIt (which is NO LONGER SUPPORTED) and when I restored them everything was back exactly the same way it started out, including the dates, the part I particularly liked. Now when I UnStuff any of these Stuffed applications, just get errors saying the application is corrupted. (At one point I was able to UnStuff some things correctly on a non-APFS volume, but who knows if that even works now...) Used to be a useful set of programs for me. Not any more.
This is a reliable program and supports many different compression algorithms. Even though recent OSX versions include ZIP, they don't support all the different formats, which can be problematic depending on your needs. For the everyday user perhaps the builtin compression is sufficient, but there are situations for advanced users that will need alternatives.
Just a question. Please tell me how the Smith Micro website just allowed me to receive the latest version of Stuffit Expander 16.0.3, but MacUpdate is lists the latest version as 16.0.4? Does someone around here know something Smith Micro does not know? Just a thought.
Change Notes 16.0.4 Fixed an issue expanding 7zip archives. 16.0.3 Fixed issue with some zip archives that would fail to expand with StuffIt Expander but could be opened with StuffIt Archive Manager.
It still fails to expand static FFmpeg binaries 7-zip archives from http://evermeet.cx/pub/ffmpeg/. Now silently fails after claiming to successfully unarchive instead of leaving a corrupt binary. The Unarchiver still handles those just fine, even on El Capitan (10.11) beta.
The Unarchiver stopped working for me so I switched to Stuffit Expander and I've never looked back. Not once has it balked at decompressing a file, too bad it doesn't quit automatically like TA did but that's easily handled with a simple kb shortcut.
I stopped using Stuffit expander ages ago. I've got some problems with .rar files from PC, the only free application which could expand such files was this one, just brilliant!. Now, I'm using it for expanding everything, it feels like Yosemite app and it is quite fast.
It boggles my mind the amount of legacy hostility people have for a free app. Stuffit Expander is not Stuffit. It's a free expander that sometimes does a better job at UNcompressing files than anything else on the market. We get it. Stuffit is obsolete. We all know that. But Stuffit Expander doesn't just work on .sit or .sitx, it works on a ridiculous number of STANDARD formats, too. If you want to complain about Stuffit or the .sit format, then do that under the proper title. The expander is a valuable product all on it's own.
I'd forgotten I still had StuffIt Expander on my system. I don't remember how many years ago I actually used it. When I saw that the app had just been updated, I siezed the opportunity to delete the old one once and for all.
Apparently v15.0.4 is still compatible with PPC but the newer v15.0.7 is Intel only. Not sure what the differences are but it looks like they dropped support now. Better get 15.0.4 before they delete it from their servers.
Although getting long in the tooth, Stuffit/Stuffit Expander is still a good combination. Stuffit Expander is free, and can not only expand '.sit' archives (that are getting rare indeed - there was a time where you couldn't look anywhere without getting run over by one :), but it also expands many more common (and less proprietary than '.sit') compression formats - including the venerable 'Binhex' ('.hqx') encoding (which used to be the MacOS analogue to base64).
The product has been through different owners since Aladdin originally published it in the late 80s, and it shows.
It seems that Smith Micro (the latest owner) is again investing into developing Stuffit, and I hope that the compression/expander duo (only the compressor is commercial) again rises in relevance.
People have bagged on Stuffit for a long time, and much of it deservedly so, but it has become a useful product. The Unarchiver and SimplyRAR will not open my password protected RAR files while iZip became a crashy ball of code that I had to delete; meanwhile Expander dutifully asked for the password and kept on trucking. Only Keka was up to unarchiving password protected RAR files alongside Expander.
My only gripe with Expander is that the claimed ability to send unarchived files to your A/V app does not seem to exist: -½ Features star.
Expander could not open a .sit.hqx file when designated, using the 'Open with' in the Finder (The application cannot be opened -35); however, Expander having been launched, opened this same file when it was dropped on the Expander icon.
15.0.4 - Bug fixes. Added support for Mac OS X Lion. Added tutorial mode to StuffIt Destinations. StuffIt command-line apps have been moved to a separate installer.
Suddenly this new version of Expander can't open even basic zip archives without squawking that there's a problem. Yet, Archive Utility has no trouble with them, nor does 7-zip on the PC.
Beware. Keep your old installer handy.
What happened to the 'Create surrounding folder' feature when expanding archives? Stuffit 2010 had a preference to allow for 'never' which forced the expansion to output all files into the same directory instead of a multitude of folders - which I then have to sort.
Has StuffIt Expander 2011 ditched this feature?
Note that unlike the 14.x/2010 series, Stuffit will not launch the Expander (or the other utilities), run a virus scanner, and then close anymore. I double-checked this with Smith Micro support and they confirmed their software now stays open until you close it and virus scanning is only performed when using the Stuffit Archive Manager.
I've never had any problems with Stuffit Expander. It's does what it's supposed to and it's free. What more do you need? Also what's all this complaining about apps not being 64bit? I sure can't see any difference.
Please stop denigrate this software because it's up to date to do so.
For years I never had the smallest problem , and certainly The Unarchiver is as good, but not better.
And if you have problem with Stuffit, it came from the way you fix your computer.
For some reason SE (2010 14.0.1) won't fully launch on two freshly configured 10.6.3 systems after being manually installed (copied from installer's …/Payload folder). Just a brief appearance of the Dock icon before quitting; no console messages. Still fails even after restarting in Safe Mode. It's the only app I've tested on SL with this mysterious misbehavior.
Looks like I'll be using some other app when there's a need to extract .sit or other archives that OS X doesn't natively support.
Will this format ever die?
The installer is torturous, it needs admin permissions so it can dump its bloated mass of junk throughout your system.
The application doesn't need to be 'installed', it can simply be run. However, the installer is needed to deliver the rest of the pay load.
I used StuffIt Expander for almost a year, but have recently started noticing that it won't unrar password protected rar files. I tried The Unarchiver instead and it worked like a charm. Consequently, I had to ditch StuffIt Expander.
"The Unarchiver" should be able to do most of what you need, but if you really need Stuffit Expander, here's a link to the current direct download (no email address required).
http://tinyurl.com/4aow4b
Can we at least go back to the good old days when clicking the Download link just, you know, DOWNLOADED THE FILE?
Smith Micro will only let you have their precious program if you "agree" to let them spam you forever. No "agree", no program - this sort of coercion SHOULD be illegal. Consent not given freely is no consent at all.
To anyone thinking of sending me a .sitx file - you'll need to recompress it as .zip, because I'm not playing Smith Micro's games, and I strongly encourage you not to as well. We don't need spam-pushers like this around.
This app is the way Stuffit keep their proprietary format and company alive, they force you to install this if you want to open an archive or something from their new connect service. The other formats this supports are all open-able with many alternatives.
If someone you know is dumb enough to use SITX (7zip or RAR are better) or Stuffit Connect (many online sharing services don't lock you into proprietary formats) when better solutions exist, then by all means use this.
But for everything else, The Unarchiver or BetterZip are much better and less bloated improvements to Stuffit.
@LOKHEED "Using a proprietary format should be criminal." ROFL. By your definition Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and pretty much all other large software companies should all be in jail.
I haven't tested recent versions of Stuffit against the zip compression included in the Mac OS. A few years ago, Stuffit was able to make considerably smaller files than the standard zip compression, so lots of my vendors kept purchasing updates as they were released (a bit too frequently for my wallet).
Does anyone know if Stuffit still makes smaller files? Or has the zip compression improved to the point where Stuffit is simply unnecessary?
A while ago I was sent a stuffit file (does anybody really still use this format?). Anyway, I had to go find the 'free' expander.
Trying to install the expander was greeted with the need to enter an administrator password, huh, really, No thank you!
I opened the package and manually dragged out the stuffit expander application, which worked just fine without being 'installed'.
To get the expander you have to jump through hoops on the web site and agree to be spammed, then when you get actual download they want your administrator password to install all kinds of more spam.
The expander can be run as a stand alone application without being 'installed', yet the company do not want to do this, they want administrator access to your machine to do as they please.
DO NOT PERPETUATE THIS COMPANIES SPAM MILL. AVOID CREATING STUFFIT FILES AND CREATE ZIP FILES INSTEAD.
THEY CLAIM IT IS FREE, BUT IS GIVING AWAY YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION AND ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS TO YOUR MACHINE REALLY FREE??????
