Stuffit Expander, from Aladdin Systems, is a freely redistributable tool for extracting Stuffit 'SIT' archives on Apple Macintosh computers. Most Macintosh file archives are in this format. Unlike ZIP, Stuffit preserves special resource fork and creator type information required by Macintosh file systems. For the Microsoft Windows version, please see Aladdin Expander.
StuffIt Expander is a file compression and expansion utility that can handle a number of different file archive formats. It's a free app available from the App Store and several other Web sites. StuffIt has been a target of criticism and dissatisfaction from Mac users in the past as the file format changes frequently, notably during the introduction of StuffIt version 5.0. Expander 5.0 contained many bugs, and its file format was not readable by the earlier version 4.5, leaving Mac users of the time without a viable compression utility.
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Screenshots
Release notes
Version 5.5 requires MacOS 7.1.1 or later with a minimum hardware requirement of a Mac II (68020 CPU). Supports PPC Macs.
Version 5.5 is the last that will run on m68k based Macs, and is the most popular version for vintage Macintosh abandonware.
Installation instructions
The 'bin' file is primarily for use with virtual Mac hard drive image management tools. Inserting this file in to a Mac volume will automatically create the required resource fork and creator information. On a real mac, bin files can be extracted with BinHex.
The 1.44mb disk image may be written with a USB floppy drive (the target Mac must also have a 1.44mb drive), and the ISO may be written to a CD-ROM or mounted in an emulator.
The main window of StuffIt Expander 2011 uses a severely minimalistic interface. | |
Developer(s) | Smith Micro Software |
---|---|
Stable release | |
Operating system | Classic Mac OS, macOS, Windows |
Type | File Extractor/Decompressor |
License | Freeware |
Website | Stuffit Homepage |
StuffIt Expander is a proprietary, freeware, closed source, decompression software utility developed by Allume Systems (a subsidiary of Smith Micro Software formerly known as Aladdin Systems). It runs on the classic Mac OS, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. Prior to 2011, a Linux version had also been available for download.
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines freeware unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the freeware it offers. For instance, modification, redistribution by third parties, and reverse engineering without the author's permission are permitted by some publishers but prohibited by others. Unlike with free and open-source software, which are also often distributed free of charge, the source code for freeware is typically not made available. Freeware may be intended to benefit its producer by, for example, encouraging sales of a more capable version, as in the freemium and shareware business models.
In signal processing, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Compression can be either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression reduces bits by identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy. No information is lost in lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces bits by removing unnecessary or less important information.
Allume Systems was a software developer, founded in 1988 by David Schargel and Jonathan Kahn in New York City as Aladdin Systems to develop, publish and distribute software for personal computers. Allume was incorporated in January 1989.
The latest version for each Mac platform is as follows:[1]
- 16.0.5 for Mac OS X 10.8+ (as of January 2019);
- 15.0.7 (2011) for Mac OS X 10.6.8+;
- 15.0.4 (2011) for Mac OS X 10.5+;
- 14.0.1 (2010) for Mac OS X 10.4+;
- 10.0.2 for Mac OS X 10.3+;
- 8.0.2 for Mac OS X 10.0+;
- 7.0.3 for Mac OS 8.6+;[2]
- 6.0.1 for Mac OS 8.1+ (PowerPC only);
- 5.5.1 for System 7.1+ (68020 and up, PowerPC);
- 4.5 for System 6+ (compatible with all 68k processors).
Mac OS X version 10.0 is the first major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system. Mac OS X 10.0 was released on March 24, 2001 for a price of US$129. It was the successor of the Mac OS X Public Beta and the predecessor of Mac OS X 10.1.
Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer, Inc. on July 26, 1997. It represents the largest overhaul of the classic Mac OS since the release of System 7, approximately six years before. It emphasizes color more than prior versions. Released over a series of updates, Mac OS 8 represents an incremental integration of many of the technologies which had been developed from 1988 to 1996 for Apple's overly-ambitious OS named Copland. Mac OS 8 helped modernize the Mac OS while Apple developed its next generation operating system, Mac OS X.
System 6 is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was released in 1988 by Apple Computer, Inc. and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. System 6 was included with all new Macintosh computers until it was succeeded by System 7 in 1991. The boxed version of System 6 cost $49 when introduced. System 6 is classed as a monolithic operating system. It features an improved MultiFinder, which allows for co-operative multitasking.
StuffIt has been a target of criticism and dissatisfaction from Mac users in the past as the file format changes frequently, notably during the introduction of StuffIt version 5.0. Expander 5.0 contained many bugs, and its file format was not readable by the earlier version 4.5, leaving Mac users of the time without a viable compression utility.
The latest stand-alone version for Windows is 2009 (13.0). Unlike the version before it (12.0), which was only able to decompress the newer .sitx (and ZIP) archives, version 2009 claims to be able to decompress over 30 formats, some listed below. The executables require both, the .NET v2.0 framework and MSVC 2008 (9.0) runtimes. The previous stand-alone version able to decompress .sit and other classic Mac OS-specific archives was 7.02, distributed with StuffIt v7.0.x for Windows.
Stuffit Expander Mac Os 9
A stand-alone program, also known as a freestanding program, is a computer program that does not load any external module, library function or program and that is designed to boot with the bootstrap procedure of the target processor – it runs on bare metal. In early computers like the ENIAC without the concept of an operating system, standalone programs were the only way to run a computer. Standalone programs are usually written in or compiled to the assembly language for the specific hardware.
Microsoft Windows is a group of several graphical operating system families, all of which are developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. Active Windows families include Windows NT and Windows Embedded; these may encompass subfamilies, e.g. Windows Embedded Compact or Windows Server. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.
Classic Mac OS is a colloquial term used to describe a series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept. It was included with every Macintosh that was sold during the era it was developed, and many updates to the system software were done in conjunction with the introduction of new Macintosh systems.
From versions 7.5.x to 11 the Expander capabilities were actually performed by the StuffIt Standard Edition, that allowed decompression even after the end of the trial period. To start StuffIt in Expander mode the following command line switches were used: -expand -uiexpander.[3] Note that the registration reminder dialogue box is not shown in this case. With older versions of StuffIt Expander on the classic Mac OS platform, such as StuffIt Expander 3.5, it was possible to enhance the capabilities of StuffIt Expander and to add support for decompressing additional archive formats by means of the shareware DropStuff with Expander Enhancer software from Aladdin Systems[4].
StuffIt is a family of computer software utilities for archiving and compressing files. Originally produced for the Macintosh, versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux (x86), and Sun Solaris were later created. The proprietary compression format used by the StuffIt utilities is also termed StuffIt.
There is also a command lineDOS application called UNSTUFF v1.1 that allows decompression of .sit files.
DOS is a family of disk operating systems, hence the name. DOS primarily consists of MS-DOS and a rebranded version under the name IBM PC DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Other later compatible systems from other manufacturers include DR-DOS (1988), ROM-DOS (1989), PTS-DOS (1993), and FreeDOS (1998). MS-DOS dominated the x86-based IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995.
StuffIt Expander 2009 decompresses files in the following formats:
Stuffit Expander Windows 10
Stuffit Expander Download
- 7-Zip (.7z, .cb7)
- AppleSingle (.as)
- Arc (.arc)
- ARJ (.arj)
- BinHex (.hqx), all versions
- BTOA (.b2a, .btoa)
- bzip2 (.bzip, .bzip2, .bz, .bz2, .tbz, .tbz2, .tar.bz, .tar.bz2)
- CAB (.cab)
- Compact Pro (.cpt)
- gzip (.gz, .tgz)
- LHA (.lha, .lzh)
- LZMA (.lzma, .tlzma, .tar.lzma)
- MacBinary (.bin, .macbin), all versions
- MIME/Base 64 (.mime)
- Private File (.pF), Aladdin's encryption file format
- RAR (.rar, .rNN, .cbr, .partNN.rar), including segmented
- SpaceSaver StuffIt compression format used in versions prior 5.x
- StuffIt (.sit, .sitx, .sit.N, .partNN.sitx, .sea, .exe) v1.5.1 to 8.0.x, including encrypted, segmented and self-extracting archive (Classic Mac OS file type code 'SIT!')
- tar (.tar, .gtar, .gnutar, .ustar, .cbt)
- Unix Compress (.Z, .z, .taz)
- UU (.uu, .uue, .enc), PC/Unix 8 bit to 7 bit encoding similar to BinHex (.hqx)
- yEncode (.ync, .y)
- ZIP (.zip, .zNN, .cbz, .exe), including encrypted, Zip64, segmented and self-extracting archive