ViceVersa is chiefly positioned as a convenient tool for software engineers and web authors i.e. for professionals having to synchronize, backup, replicate lots of data. ViceVersa automates the processes allowing to set schedules and provides readable outcome summary to check the results of its work. So, what are the advanced features and approaches differing backup programs for everyone from that for advanced purposes?

First of al, it's the absence of Wizards allowing to quickly go throw the process of creating backup copies. At once this turns ViceVersa from easy-to-use into easy-to-learn. Though, it has a Windows-like interface, comprehensibly organized buttons and system of pop-up help, i.e. everything what we call user-friendly.

Secondly, the starting point of work here is not to create a backup copy, but to compare folders. Folders' destinations are all available drives as well as a (company) network server.

Once two folders (hierarchical systems of subfolders) have been compared, users have to choose a method to implement: synchronization, backup (mirror source to target), some ways of replications (augment target, refresh target, update target) or consolidation.

Before executing a method, users can preview what operations will take place: number and size of files and subfolders to be added, updated or deleted. This preview option is useful for professionals-beginners in order not to delete some files, for example, while mirroring source to target.

After executing, the Output window, if the opposite is not set, will present a Status Summary with a detailed list of transaction and sizes.

ViceVersa synchronize files comparing their timestamps. It adds new files, replaces older files with new files, delete files as required, if they have been deleted from the other side, etc. It does not synchronize data within files. For example, for Outlook, ViceVersa will not synchronize e-mails or contacts, but will keep the newer PST file by copying it over the old PST file.

It's the illustration to a first approximation of how it works. Naturally, the ViceVersa program offers a great variety of options automating and tuning the processes.

First of all, to backup permanently changing folders, it's wise to create a task profile and set a required schedule. A task profile is a number of settings concerning file and subfolder filters, comparison type, archiving, compression, encryption and some advanced settings. A time schedule regulates dates of the start and the end, time intervals, etc. An interesting inconvenience here is that profile and schedule settings are set separately. These are 2 separate processes, separate clicks in different menus.

So, several words about the profile settings.

File and subfolder filters contain settings related to file filtering based on name, extension, date, attributes, etc. Comparison type and timestamp are options which, being convenient, are not always offered to set in backup programs. Let us say, if your network server is in Australia, which doesn't support Day Saving Time and your country keeps to the system, timestamp options allow to ignore 1 hour difference between files.

Performance/Bandwidth preferences are also those which are often determined by developers at some optimal average. Here users can set the process priority from idle to real time; choose bandwidth used by ViceVersa, set file buffer size, or check the box to make the system to write to the destination file at every write pulse.

Of course, the options of archiving and encrypting are present here. The point is that to backup/replicate/update presupposes to delete and overwrite. The ViceVersa can archive old file versions and, instead of deleting and overwriting them, ViceVersa renames them and moves them to special folders called 'Archive Folders'.

Advanced settings allow to:

- copy files directly to destination file;
- try to copy files that are in use by other applications;
- perform a CRC comparison;
- and some others.

If you are working under Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you can use the advantage of the Using Volume Shadow Copies option. ViceVersa will copy/access files even when they are open, locked or in-use.

One more rather typical option provided in ViceVersa PRO is running user-defined scripts (i.e. other programs) before comparison and/or after execution.

In whole, ViceVersa is a user-friendly program. Though meant for professionals, every step, option, button, and box here is patiently and efficiently explained. It is easy-to-use. Command line is supported; a saved profile can be a parameter for execution what is convenient and time-saving. What might be considered as a week point is that ViceVersa is not multithread. You can create 100 profiles and set desired schedules, but to execute you have to manually choose them one by one.