DMG Maker

It would be nice if it was possible to download and test this thing, but the webmaster of the download site was unkind enough to set the MIME type to TEXT which means that MacOS X user cannot download it as binary from a browser because the "Save as..." option does not (yet?) allow the file type to be specified. Oh well ...

This is a followup review for this product. Since I've bought DMG Maker is has worked perfectly without flaw. Two very key features that I use quite extensively now is the encryption/password feature, and the placing of smaller encrypted dmg.'s into larger dmg's using different passwords, and the has worked exceptionally well. Flawless !!! I can highly recommend this program to anyone! The only thing I can fault (or suggest) the DMG Maker is the strength of the encryption. It uses 128 bit AES (which is a current general norm for most applications like this) but never-the-less the newer 256 bit AES are slowly popping up and it would be nice to see in the next upgrade of DMG Maker the encryption strengthen upward to the 256 bit level of encryption (using small sentences for the password instead of a single word).

The main selling point for this item (for me) was the backward capability for OS-9. This is especially important concerning the software program I'm putting together that is BOTH OS-9 & OS-10 compatible.

Um, guys? In Panther if you go to Disk Utility there is Image > New > Image from Folder -- with all the options that you would get from creating a new image from scratch. Lately, I've dropped OMC and other fiddlefaddle. If I really need an Apple- or other shell script, it's better to code it oneself. That being said, if this floats your boat, and the author is responsive, well, knock yourself out. My $$$ would go to Panther Cache Cleaner or TinkerTool System (actually, have).

dmg maker has helped me out on quite a few time sensitive occasions. you can go run hoops around this or that ifya want - ill drop ten, support mac independant development efforts and get something that works the way i want it to, nice an simple.

Update: Unfortunately "DMG Tool" is starting to show its age in Panther. It is slow and crashes when it is finished, even though it works. So I have found a new elegant better and free solution. As it turns out this functionality is built into OS X. You just have to know how to access it. An excellent tool called "On My Command" - a contextual menu program does this for free, It is a group of over 100 commands that is customizable (select what you want to use) that you select with a right click of your mouse. One of the commands/scripts is "Create compressed image." To use it, once easily installed, just select the desire folder, right click, and choose the command. That's it. It's done in seconds. One minor problem, it brings up a terminal screen to do it which then has to be closed. Solution: Used the included script editor (uses pull down menus) to change "Execution Mode" from "Terminal" to "Silent" - a couple of mouse clicks. Then it does it invisibly and quietly - fast and free. The bottom line is that you do not need to spend $10 to use a tool that is already included with your OS, just because you are not Unix savvy. Others are in the Macintosh community are more compassionate and have chosen to provide you with complimentary access. As a courtesy, if you do use their tools, It would be gracious to email them a thank you for their efforts. They usually include their email address with their MacUpdate description. That way they do feel appreciated for their work.

To answer Phil's question; because historically, the Apple tool can be inconvenient for creating .DMG files as it is not drag & drop. However I have been using "DMG Tool" for over a year for this with absolutely no problem. I just place its icon in my Finder toolbar and drag a folder to it to create a .DMG file. It's stable; it's small; it's reliable; it's FREE. Frankly, because of "DMG Tool" I have not even bothered checking if "Disk Utility" in Panther would create a .DMG file with drag & drop. I would really need a good reason, given Phil's point and "DMG Tool" to fork out $10 for "DMG Maker".

What, may I ask, is the point of this application? In pre-Panther, there's DiskCopy, and in Panther there's Disk Utility. I don't see why there needs to be a whole other application dedicated to making .dmg and .img files (especially when it costs a whole $10!!) when free, more stable, better software is included in Apple's operating system.

DMG Tool has similar features and is free. Perhaps DMG Maker has functionality that would make it worth the shareware price, but I wouldn't know since the author of DMG Maker provides almost nothing in the form of product feature descriptions, screenshots, or any information that would induce me to download and try the product. Which is fine, since I'm more than happy with DMG Tool.

to "BK" : I have had no problems, why are you being such an idiot? Great program! Quick, easy to use - maybe a bit quirky at times.