Currently, PortableApps offers WinMerge. Unfortunately, WinMerge has known bugs and hasn't really been updated in quite some time.
There is a popular fork of WinMerge, called WinMerge2011, that has received significant updates. It is open source, and so all updates can be viewed. I have nothing to do with the development... I'm just a user of that software.
To see some of the problems with the original WinMerge, try exporting your registry as a text file, then use your computer a little, and make another export. Try using original WinMerge to compare them. It will generate an error. (This is just a simple example that is easy to reproduce.) WinMerge2011 will handle this example without problems.
Can you switch the PortableApps WinMerge to WinMerge2011?
It is located at: https://bitbucket.org/jtuc/winmerge2011/downloads
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This is the first I've heard of this fork. I've used WinMerge just about daily for many years and have never encountered a bug with it. Then again, I've never had any reason to save its output.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hi John,
Thanks for your reply!
I'm not sure what you mean by "I've never had any reason to save its output". I'm thinking that in the example I provided maybe I made it sound like the bug I experienced with WinMerge (which led me to find WinMerge2011) involved saving the output. If so, I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. I was just referring to comparing the two files. When I do that, I get an error with WinMerge, but not WinMerge2011.
When you mentioned XML you made it sound like you were saving the results to an XML files.
I've literally never seen WinMerge have an error when comparing files within its UI in the 6 or so years I've used it. That's not to say you haven't, of course, but I the problems may not be as severe as you originally made out.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hi John,
I'm not sure what you mean by "mentioned XML". Perhaps you were reading two different threads at once?
I'm also not sure what you mean by "problems may not be as severe as you originally made out". Maybe you are referring to something someone else wrote? I mentioned WinMerge has known bugs, which is unfortunately true. Take a look at WinMerge2011, and you can see all the bugfixes and enhancements they have made to the original WinMerge. It's all open source.
As a simple example of an error, try exporting your registry as a text file, then use your computer for a while, then create another export. Use the original WinMerge to compare the two text file exports. It fails every time for me. WinMerge2011 fixes this problem.
I haven't looked at WinMerge2011 in quite a while because last time I tried it (2+ years ago) it was missing some of WinMerge's functionality I needed, didn't handle applying unified diff patches as had been claimed, and was WAY less stable than WinMerge.
Has this changed?
~3D1T0R
Hi 3D1T0R,
Good question! I haven't had a single problem with WinMerge2011. Before switching to it, I carefully compared WinMerge and WinMerge2011, including reviewing all the patches (which are all open source). It became clear that the WinMerge2011 team has invested significant effort and really has dramatically improved the original WinMerge.
The only flaw I could find is the name, which is a little confusing!
I just tested the latest version of WinMerge2011.
The functionality has improved so much, that I no longer recommend regular WinMerge to anyone.
One of the best new features is that it will instantly tell you when binary files are identical. The original WinMerge (which is the version still in PortableApps) didn't do this.
Disclosure: I have nothing to do with WinMerge or WinMerge2011.
Just an FYI... WinMerge2011 continues to receive great updates including more functionality and bug fixes. Regular WinMerge does not appear to be integrating these improvements.