FWB Software has released a new version of Hard Disk Toolkit, their utility for increasing drive performance on your Mac. The new version adds a host of new features, including support for FireWire drives. According to FWB:
FWB Software, LLC today announced the immediate availability of Hard Disk ToolKit(tm) 4.0. This new version of FWB's award winning storage management solution features performance and reliability improvements, FireWire® compatibility, Mac(tm)OS9 compatibility as well as user interface enhancements. Additional features include support for the latest AGP G4, Ultra-DMA 66 drives, Iomega ATAPI ZIP plus more than 1,000 other storage devices.
FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit (HDT) 4.0 features a Power Mac native storage device driver that optimizes the performance of SCSI, IDE, and FireWire devices including most removables and virtually every disk drive available. Additionally, HDT's intelligent drivers operating in conjunction with the new FWB Tools with S.M.A.R.T. support, constantly and automatically detect and report drive defects before they cause system downtime. Version 4.0 of Hard Disk ToolKit also provides enhanced driver-level encryption for bulletproof data security.
Hard Disk ToolKit 4.0 retains all the features that earned the previous version the coveted ``Freakin' Awesome'' rating from MacAddict Magazine. These include the familiar time saving features such as Auto Initialize, background formatting, driver installation without reformatting, intuitive tab-based user interface, and comprehensive on-line help, plus the performance enhancing utilities such as FWB Configure, custom formatting templates, and FWB BenchTest. Additionally, the RAID features have also been tested with the new suite of SCSI cards from major 3rd party vendors.
System Requirements
Hard Disk ToolKit requires: System 8.1 or later (FireWire support requires System 8.6 or later), Power Macintosh CPU, 8 MB of available RAM, SCSI, IDE or FireWire hard disk, and CD-ROM drive. Array features require two or more storage devices (SCSI only).
Pricing for the release is set at US$199. Registered owners of version 3.0 can upgrade for US$49.95. You can find more information on the product at FWB's Web site.
