Every Mac sold since the launch of OS X 10.5 (Leopard) has had a copy of Apple’s backup software, Time Machine, included.
And thank goodness for that, because backups were the elephant in the computer industry’s room. Everyone knew it was essential to keep backups, and everyone knew that most people just didn’t bother.
Time Machine made backups so simple that you didn’t need to bother. Just plug in an external drive, tell Time Machine where it is, and forget about it. Until the day comes – as it inevitably will – when your hard disk goes kaput, and you need to restore your system.
The only problem with Time Machine backups is that they’re not bootable. You can’t use one as your working system when disaster strikes.
That’s why Superduper is an essential extra for your Mac. It does almost the same job as Time Machine, but in a slightly different way. The backups it creates are bootable. That means you can plug them in and tell your computer to treat them like the real thing.
That means that if your hardware lets you down just an hour before you’re due to go to the Big Pitch Meeting with MegeClient Inc, all you need do is boot from your Superduper! backup drive and keep working.
Superduper is flexible, simple to use, and works happily alongside Time Machine (even sharing the same backup drive if need be). It comes with lots of advanced features for those who need them, but works as you’d expect for everyone else. For just under $30, it offers peace of mind at a reasonable price.
(You’re reading the 42nd post in our series, 50 Essential Mac Applications: a list of the great Mac apps the team at Cult of Mac value most. Read more, or grab the RSS feed.)
