Retrospect 5 ships!

Dantz has shipped the much awaited Retrospect 5, which fully supports Mac OS X. The software is available now for download from Dantz's Web site. We have yet to get a copy ourselves, but here are the basics (from the press release):

"Designed to protect Mac OS X systems with absolute accuracy and reliability, Dantz Retrospect Backup v5.0 properly backs up and restores all Mac OS X files and information, including both the data and resource forks of multi-part files, HFS metadata, UNIX-style permissions and group ownership, and hard-linked files. Automatic scheduling ensures that backups run even when no Mac OS X user is logged in, and Retrospect client software allows entire networks of Macs to be backed up and restored across the LAN.

Dantz Retrospect Backup v5.0 supports more storage devices than any other backup software available for the Mac OS. Hard disk drives, Apple CD-RW drives, CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drives, SuperDrives and other writable and rewritable DVD drives, tape drives and libraries, and removable cartridge drives are all supported by version 5.0."

Upgrades for the Desktop version (which supports tape drives) are $99; upgrades for the single-user Express version (which supports CD/DVD and hard drives) are $19. Price info for other configurations is available from Dantz's site.

Update: Three noteworthy pages on Dantz's site: Known Incompatible Storage Devices with Mac OS X; New Features in Dantz Retrospect Backup 5.0; and Apple Optical Storage Device Compatibility.

Paul Ripley notes: "Dantz recommends that buyers of version 5 check the Backup Hardware List of supported devices. However, some devices that are shown on the Apple Optical Storage Device page are not shown in the Backup Hardware List. For instance, the Lite-On CD-RW in my QuickSilver (2001) is shown on the Apple page but not in the full list. Buyers need to check both places for a full listing."

Anthony Kassir reports: "According to information on the Dantz web site, Retrospect 5.0 does not support SuperDrives identified as a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-103 when backing up to CD-RW media. Newer SuperDrives (DVR-104) seem supported as long as you're backing up to CD-RW media faster than 4x. There is unfortunately no news about if or when CD-RW will be an option for older SuperDrive owners, so for now only DVD-R and CD-R are options for that drive."