Compare Suite:

Compare Suite is a file comparison tool specifically designed for office document comparison. It enables the user to work with different versions of text as well as binary files. Compare Suite provides for a color-coded, side-by-side comparison with highlighting of deleted and modified lines or keywords. Compare Suite allows the user to compare folders containing similar files as well.

Pros:

- Visual comparison of MS Office, PDF, binary files and Zip archives
- Outstanding editing and comparing capabilities for MS Excel files
- Intuitive MS Office-like user interface
- Comparing several projects simultaneously
- Three methods of file comparison (by char, by word, and by keyword)
- Text ignore options, “my interests” words
- Comparison of non-related text files
- Built-in various file conversion tools
- Reviewing and editing files manually
- Easy navigation for folder comparison
- Saving files in different formats
- Comparing text from clipboard
- Three levels of reports: Standard, Full, and Advanced
- Integration in document management system

Cons:

- No support for folder synchronization
- No support for merge functionality

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CSDiff. HTMLDiff. ExcelDiff:

CSDiff, HTMLDiff and ExcelDiff are comparison software which enable the user to compare source code, HTML/XML, plain text and MS Office files. The software has a single screen comparison interface.

Pros:

- Comparing several projects simultaneously (each project opened in a new window)
- Extensive text navigation capabilities
- Three interface modes: Friendly (rich-text) Format, Diff (GNU DIFF) Format, and Edit Format
- Integration in MS Word
- Text layout, navigation options, and different “whitespace modes”
- Remote server support for FTP, HTTP and HTTPS
- Windows explorer integration

Cons:

- Single screen interface provides for less visual comparison functionality
- No support for folder synchronization
- Insufficient report functionality for the file comparison
- Compared MS Excel files cannot be edited
- Using three comparison tools is somewhat inconvenient; besides, it is much more expensive

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ExamDiff Pro:

ExamDiff Pro is a visual file and directory comparison software which enables the user to compare plain text, HTML/XML, binary files and source code. ExamDiff Pro provides for two-way, side-by-side comparison. To compare MS Office, PDF and other files, the user has to install and set external conversion plug-ins.

Pros:

- Intuitive, user friendly interface
- Comparing several projects simultaneously
- Three methods of file comparison (by lines, by lines and words, by lines and characters)
- Extensive text navigation capabilities (Search/Go To, bookmarks)
- Extensive drag and drop support (ExamDiff Pro 3.5 Beta)
- Full Unicode support
- All diffs displayed in the drop-down list
- Intuitive Autopick feature (remembering matching pairs) (ExamDiff Pro 3.5 Beta)
- Custom text filters, text ignore options, regular expressions support
- Byte-by-byte comparison (custom block size)
- Reviewing and editing files manually
- Comparing text from clipboard
- Folder comparison and synchronization
- Easy navigation for folder comparison
- Manual synchronization (ExamDiff Pro 3.5 Beta)
- Immediate notification of any changes in the compared folders
- Reports: HTML, plain text and UNIX diff
- Integration in document management system
- Windows explorer integration

Cons:

- No custom reports
- External conversion plug-ins required for MS Office, PDF files and ZIP archives, etc.
- Comparison functionality for MS Word and Excel files is limited

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Compare It!:

Pros:
- Visual comparison of MS Office, PDF files and Zip archives
- Intuitive MS Office-like user interface
- Partial Matching (manual alignment)
- Setting minimum comparison unit in char/ per cent
- Text ignore options, regular expressions
- Adaptive comparison
- Reviewing and editing files manually
- Comparing text from clipboard
- Advanced custom reports and statistics
- Automatic file backup

Cons:

- No folder comparison
- MS Excel files are converted to plain text for comparison
- Diverse comparison methods not supported
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Sync Folder:

Sync Folder is a file and folder comparison software. It has a simple and intuitive user interface and provides all necessary functionality for small and occasional comparison projects.

Pros:

- Simple and straightforward user interface
- Review and edit text in the comparison panels
- FTP server support
- Text merging functionality
- Folder synchronization

Cons:

- No syntax highlighting capabilities
- No “Undo” option; all file operations are applied directly on the hard drive
- Poor file management capabilities
- No “ignore” options support
- No reports functionality
- No support for diverse comparison methods
- No support for binary and MS Office files