MacCompanion reviews MacShield Enhanced Edition
MacCompanion | 10/01/05
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 - 10.4
Strengths: Can restore operating systems to pre-defined configuration with only a restart; good for many environments.
Weaknesses: Not as useful for individual use; cannot save new system configuration over existing one.
These days, some Windows users are getting so fed up with how poorly their systems are running due to viruses, spyware and adware, they're junking their computer and buying a new one. Centurion Technologies is helping users avoid situations like that with their Instant Restore™ software, which allows you to quickly return your system to a pre-configured state.
With MacShield Enhanced Edition, Centurion has brought enterprise-level software to home users. The program write-protects the hard drive and records all changes to a temporary storage area. During use, the computer acts as though everything is permanent. But when restarted, all those changes are erased and the system is restored to the pre-determined configuration.
Of course, viruses and other malware are not much of a concern on the Macintosh platform, so the use of MacShield EE to protect against such threats is overkill for now.
But there are plenty of situations where MacShield would come in very handy. In a school environment, for instance, MacShield will ensure that no student can do any permanent damage either accidentally or on purpose. If a computer's purpose is as a demo machine (trade shows, in-store use, MUG presentations) or as a single-purpose device (mall kiosk use), MacShield provides a level of comfort that a simple restart will always restore the machine to perfect working condition.
Unfortunately, although Mac OS X is far more stable than the classic Mac OS, there are still times when an unwanted restart is required. If data does need to be saved to the hard drive beyond a restart (e-mail, documents, images, etc.) a Persistent Storage space can be set up.
Additionally, certain users can be designated as persistent and will be unaffected by a restart. This could be useful for you if you want to test out software but are afraid of what it might do to the stability of your system.
If you let visitors use your Mac on an occasional basis, you could set up MacShield and know they'd have full capabilities but would be unable to permanently affect your computer.
I've worked in a pre-press workplace where some machines became so unstable that the users would perform a clean install of the system and painstakingly re-install all the applications, utilities, fonts, and such every few weeks. If they could've saved that final, ready-to-go configuration and simply restarted when necessary to bring it back, it would've saved many hours of overtime.
But MacShield EE isn't for everyone. If you're the only user of your Mac, this isn't the best software to protect you from your own mistakes. If you accidentally trashed an important file, you could restart to bring it back. But it would also forget everything else you did since setting your original configuration, from changing your desktop to downloading some files, to adding a few bookmarks. The configuration that you set for MacShield to remember cannot be overwritten with the current state you have arrived at.
If you manage Macs, loan yours out on occasion, or have some users on your machine you don't trust, MacShield Enhanced Edition could be a time-or-life-saver. But if you're the only person who uses your Mac and you continually configure it to meet your evolving needs, this product will probably just frustrate you.
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