UltraCompare is intended to help you compare files and folders without much effort. Besides, this application lets you preview and merge their contents. Its easy-to-use interface is composed of a series of side-by-side panels and allows browsing through the differences detected. Moreover, it can also be used from the command line or through a secondary click within Windows File Manager.
This utility allows various ways to perform a comparison. Some of the operations it supports include line-by-line, smart binary and 3-way comparisons as well as synchronization and merging of contents. Fortunately, comparisons can be fitted to your specific needs by telling the program to ignore given differences and use special filters.
It is a good thing that the application can interpret Word, Excel and PDF files, some of the most widely used formats. This way, it makes it quite easy to detect any changes made to the original version. One of its best advantages the availability of a three-way compare/merge mode, which lets you compare two documents to a source. Moreover, the utility can detect duplicate files by comparing not only their metadata but their binary contents as well. I am also glad to say that this tool also allows comparing the contents of not only local folders but also network and FTP locations.
One thing I did not like about this application is that, although there are versions for most major languages, they must be download them separately and it is not possible to change the interface language after it has been installed.
In general, I was quite pleased with UltraCompare. The program is both easy-to-use and powerful. The product is shareware and can be tried at no cost. However, if comparing files and folders is for you just a casual operation, you might not be willing to spend almost 50 bucks on it. In such case, it is good to know that there are some free alternatives out there.
v15.10.20 [Apr 20, 2015]
Re-engineered shell integration: UltraCompare's explorer integration now includes 2 modes: basic and advanced. Both modes are available within the context menu and are not mutually exclusive.
Split explorer pane: UltraCompare now shares the same split explorer pane interface as UltraEdit and UEStudio. You can sort the files and folders in the lower pane by name, date, type, or size.
The split explorer pane is optional; use the toggle icon at the top right to enable or disable it. You can also create and load file extension groups for filtering the file listing.
Text compare improvements:
Enhanced logic and internal algorithms for more accurate matching of text within comparisons
Save icon state now reflects whether there are any changes in the file
Addressed display and handling of inline text editing
Addressed visual and positioning issues related to merge
Addressed issues with Active Line Window
Addressed issues with Ignore Column Range
Folder compare improvements:
Progressive folder compare (interact with compare panes while compare is still running)
Subdirectories no longer scanned for faster non-recursive folder compares
Improved handling of timestamps from USB drives
Improved handling of large files in folder compare mode
Addressed issue with filter options not being saved with new session
Addressed issue with "-ne" command line switch with basic folder compare
Addressed issue duplicate file names when sorting file listings by date
Addressed issue with folder sync actions resetting after collapsing or expanding subfolders
Binary compare improvements:
Improvements for searching for hex bytes
Improved stability
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