True Image Home 2009

Acronis has finally done something about the ode-to-redundancy interface that’s been the fly in the otherwise excellent True Image ointment.

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Acronis has finally done something about the ode-to-redundancy interface that’s been the fly in the otherwise excellent True Image ointment. It took about 4 iterations, but now the number one imaging program on the planet is actually easy enough to use that I no longer bite my nails every time I recommend it. There are still some minor glitches, but you're no longer constantly bombarded with three ways to do everything. And the English translation seems a bit better as well.

Pros

  • Fast, reliable, feature-packed

Cons

  • Still some minor glitches

Bottom Line

Basically, the best just got better. Whether the advanced features in True Image Home 2009 are worth paying for when a free competitor such as Paragon's Drive Backup Express is on the loose — well, that's for you to decide.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 69.99 (AUD)

Otherwise, things remain pretty much the same. Acronis True Image 2009 is fast, reliable, and the undisputed industry leader feature-wise. Aside from full, incremental, and differential image backups of entire partitions or sets of files, the program also installs components that let you browse images to restore individual files. There's a Try and Decide option which tracks changes to your hard drive so you can roll back in case a piece of software messes with your installation. (It slows down your system a bit, but it's more effective than Window's own System Restore.) There's also cloning of hard drives as well as Secure Zone — a hidden partition you can use the restore your system without having the program on hand.

Aside from a now tolerable interface, there are several welcome (if not earth-shaking) improvements. For those times you want to back up files and make them available to someone who doesn't own the program, you can save file backups (not images of partitions) in .zip format. Also, True Image Home 2009 now matches Norton Save & Restore's ability to cull old backups to cut back on the amount of disk space used. In addition, you may now employ Google or Windows Search to peruse backups instead of Acronis’s sometimes cantankerous searches.

Basically, the best just got better. Whether the advanced features in True Image Home 2009 are worth paying for when a free competitor such as Paragon's Drive Backup Express is on the loose — well, that's for you to decide. If you image a lot, I’d definitely consider Acronis True Image Home 2009.

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