Meld
I like to keep the home directories on my work (PC) and home (Mac) machines more-or-less in sync using a hard drive that I tote back and forth every few weeks. In addition to rsync, one useful tool is the unix diff command.
Being free and open source, Meld is a very popular tool on Windows. It supports three-way comparing and merging and lets you edit files directly from the comparison view. Apart from diffing files, Meld also supports comparison of folders.
Beyond Compare
The Beyond Compare team makes a fine diff tool for Windows (as well as Mac and Linux, by the way). It goes well beyond (pun intended) diffing simple text and also allows comparing PDF, Excel and image files. The 'Pro' version also includes a solid three-way merge.
- Windows; Mac; Linux: 85. At least for the Windows version, trying to compare large files (multiple GB) fails. Far too limited and slow for a paid program. Can be used either as a stand-alone product or as the built in diff/merge tool for Visual Studio.
- How to Use FC (File Compare) from the Windows Command Prompt Martin Hendrikx December 30, 2014, 4:04pm EDT There is a great command line tool that can be used to compare files to see if there are any content or binary code differences that you can access if you are using a PC.
Araxis Merge
Just like Beyond Compare, Araxis Merge supports more than just text and image files. It lets you also compare office documents (like MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, or ODF). For people working on both Windows and Mac, it's good to know that a single license is valid for both platforms.
KDiff3
Another free and open source tool answers to the name of KDiff3. The project hasn't see many updates in recent years, but it remains a solid diff and merge tool that should satisfy basic needs.
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DeltaWalker
Much like Araxis, the DeltaWalker diff tool also lets you compare office files. However, it goes one step further by letting you compare file archives like ZIP, JAR, and TAR files. If you're regularly performing comparisons on a folder basis, it's good to know that DeltaWalker shines with great performance in this area.
P4Merge
Perforce, the company best known for its enterprise version control platform, also offers a solid diff tool: P4Merge is free of charge and comes with a basic feature set that makes it an interesting option.
Code Compare
Besides offering all the standard diff and merge capabilities, Code Compare comes with some special features like syntax highligthing and a VisualStudio integration.
The basic version can be used free of charge, while the Professional Edition delivers the full feature set.
Integrations
Format Usb For Large Files Mac
Another aspect to watch out for is integrations: before choosing your favorite tool, you should make sure that it plays nicely with the rest of your tool chain. I can already confirm that most of the mentioned tools work seamlessly with Tower, our own Git client.
Attach Large Files
If you don't need the power of a dedicated Diff tool application, the integrated diff views in Tower might even be sufficient for you:
Diff Tool For Large File Mac
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Conclusion
Diff & merge apps are amongst the most underestimated tools. But a good one can be really helpful in a lot of situations. Try one of the above and see for yourself!
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