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.
(Stuffit Expander on Wikipedia) Expander Enhancer, that comes with DropStuff, allows Stuffit Expander to decode many additional archive kinds. Stuffit Expander 4.0.1 works better in System 7, but still can be used in System 6. The issue in System 6 is that Stuffit Expander will only offer to expand files with the correct Macintosh file type. StuffIt Deluxe has been discontinued as of November 2019 as it has reached its End of Life. For several versions Apple has included the Archive Utility which can create and open ZIP Files on Macs and those files can be opened on Windows systems. StuffIt Destinations has also been discontinued as it has reached its End of Life. StuffIt Expander weighs in at a mere 57K and should be available on the major online services now. It works fine with System 6.0.4 or later, but System 7 users can take advantage of the Finder’s drag & drop feature by simply dropping archives on StuffIt Expander to have them automatically expanded. Aladdins StuffIt Expander Description. Aladdin's award-winning StuffIt Expander gives you access to virtually any file format downloaded from the Internet, sent to you via email.
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).
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.
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]
There is also a command lineDOS application called UNSTUFF v1.1 that allows decompression of .sit files.
StuffIt Expander 2009 decompresses files in the following formats:
- 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
References[edit]
- ^StuffIt updates page
- ^Stuffit Expander (Mac) download page
- ^Answer
- ^Engst, Adam (1994-07-18). 'SEx and the Single Archive'. TidBITS. Retrieved 2018-05-11.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
External links[edit]
Free Stuffit Expander For Mac
StuffIt Expander (and DropStuff w/ EE) 5.5
Stuffit Expander 15.0.4
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StuffIt Expander 5.5 was the most commonly used archive extractor in the later 90's on Mac OS 8 until the standard edition 7.0 came bundled with Mac OS 9. Until version 7, StuffIt Expander 5.5 was a must have tool especially for people surfing the web as everything was compressed and archived in .sit or .hqx as a way to preserve resource forks on web servers. Without archiving, any Mac software would have been rendered useless the instant it would be stored on a PC server. That's why StuffIt Expander 5.5 has always been freely distributed on various software compilations and has always been free to use. StuffIt Expander could extract a wide variety of archive types such as to name a few: .sit, .zip, .tar, .bin, .cpt IMPORTANT: Stuffit archive segments (file.1, file.2, file.3) cannot be expanded with Stuffit Expander alone; They either require Stuffit EE (Expansion Enhancer) or Stuffit Deluxe. If you plan on writing DropStuff 5.5 to 1.4MB floppy disks and installing it on an old Mac, you should begin by installing Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 on that old Mac first. Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 will enable you to join the 2 segments and obtain a regular .sit archive, which in turn you will expand using Stuffit Expander 5.5 from this page. Before installing DropStuff 5.5, you should remove everything Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 related (namely the 'Aladdin', 'Stuffit Engine' and 'Viewer Engine' under System Folder > Extensions). You do not need Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 anymore as DropStuff 5.5 comes with Stuffit EE, which will give you the archive segment expansion benefits you had with Stuffit Deluxe. DropStuff 5.5 is the opposite of Stuffit Expander, it lets you compress/archive Mac files to a binary safe format such as .sit. Using DropStuff, you could archive any files you want and copy them to a PC file system without any fear of file corruption. Other compression products: Download StuffIt Expander (and DropStuff w/ EE) 5.5 for Mac Stuffit_Expander_5.5.dsk(1.41 MiB / 1.47 MB) Stuffit Expander v5.5 on a 1.4MB floppy disk image / DSK image 11927 / 2016-09-04 / f7bdd51991b40dd3edd68a8cc656119b864bdfb7 / / Stuffit-Expander-5-5.iso.zip(3.54 MiB / 3.71 MB) (Same as above, but in .iso format in case you cannot mount .dsk) / ISO image, zipped 530 / 2020-10-15 / 0c5d26d1ad1415e8d0a906cd8ce1feb7741e1046 / / Stuffit_DropStuff_5.5_1of2.dsk(1.41 MiB / 1.47 MB) DropStuff v5.5 SEGMENTED on two 1.4MB floppy disk images (1/2) (use Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 or newer) / DSK image 1315 / 2016-09-04 / 2020-10-25 / a1c71f47543e9c71e7959897b5e9b05c737b81a3 / / Stuffit_DropStuff_5.5_2of2.dsk(1.41 MiB / 1.47 MB) DropStuff v5.5 SEGMENTED on two 1.4MB floppy disk images (2/2) (use Stuffit Deluxe 3.5.1 or newer) / DSK image 947 / 2016-09-04 / 2020-10-25 / 5aa0ff52d8d137e03fbd1adece5297980a20efe1 / / dropstuff-55-installer.sit(1.87 MiB / 1.96 MB) DropStuff v5.5, not segmented / compressed w/ Stuffit 1275 / 2019-05-07 / 2020-10-25 / d9c14b6d1f8abc8bf4bba0aaeb13c3bc52ed8b50 / /
System Requirements From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2 Architecture: 68K or PPC Mac OS 7.5 - Mac OS 9.2.2 Note: For Mac OS 7.1, 7.0 or 6.x, please download: Stuffit Expander 4.0.2 Warning: This version crashes on Macintosh SE or earlier Emulating this? It should run fine under: SheepShaver |