Impression 3.3 review

Impression is a straightforward, reliable backup application that can back up directories to (and restore them from) multiple optical discs (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW) or disk images on any mounted hard drive (i.

License: Shareware OS: Mac OS X File size: 5120K Developer: I Need Your Software! Buy Now Price: $19.00 Updated: 15 Jan 2007

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Impression is a straightforward, reliable backup application that can back up directories to (and restore them from) multiple optical discs (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW) or disk images on any mounted hard drive (i.e. - iPod, FireWire drive, Network server, etc.).

It offers incremental/differential backup options, bookmark based backup management, compressed/encrypted disk image options and MD5 checksum validation for files to guarantee their integrity and your peace of mind.

Here are some key features of "Impression":
Full, incremental and differential backups.
Back up files and folders to restorable, hfspax-based archives ('imps') or to plain, Finder-readable file archives.
Back up to CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW and disk images on any mounted hard disk (i.e. - iPod, FireWire drive, Newtork server, etc.)
Multi-session disc burning offers 'write until full' capabilities for supported optical disc formats to reduce disc waste when running multiple small or incremental backups.
Encrypt disk images with AES-128 disk encryption and keep your passwords stored safely in the OS X Keychain.
Compress disk images for local archive storage.
MD5 file checksum validation to ensure restoration accuracy.
Segment large files between two optical discs, or optionally disable this feature for plain readable file-copy archives.
'Root' user runtime authority to avoid permissions issues.
Powerful grep-based regex filename pattern exclusion system.
Bookmarked session management system.
Preflight system to verify, check validity and estimate backup routines.
Preservation of all Macintosh HFS/HFS+ file meta-data.
The ability to back up hidden and system files.
CD-RW/DVD-RW disc erasing utility.
Full, detailed logging of all application actions.
Restore individual files from 'imps' archives (hfspax-based) back in place, or to a location of your choosing.
Choose to overwrite or leave existing files in place during restoration.
Restore UNIX files with original permissions.
Provide you with a streamlined, beautiful UI to accomplish these tasks.

What's New:
Recompiled Impression using Xcode 2.2.1, which reportedly solves a few major issues only present on the Intel Mac platform. If you're using an Intel-based Mac, you'll want to use this new build of Impression. I've currently no system on which to test the 'Intel' aspects of the fat binary, though the 'PowerPC' aspects are fully tested and supported (as they've always been). Until a kind soul provides a Intel-based Mac for my development and testing use, Impression's backing for Intel-based Macs will remain untested (and consequently unsupported).

Requirements:
Mac OS X 10.3 or later
iTunes/DiscRecording supported optical drive and media (if backing up to optical disc).
Free space on a operator-definable scratch drive, estimated at runtime based on backup size.