Developer(s) | Aladdin Systems, Smith Micro Software |
---|---|
Stable release |
15.0.7
|
Operating system | macOS, Windows |
Type | File Compressor |
License | Proprietary |
Website | Homepage |
Filename extension | .sit |
---|---|
Internet media type | application/x-stuffit |
Type code | SITD, SIT2, SIT5 (depending on file version) |
Uniform Type Identifier (UTI) | com.stuffit.archive.sit |
UTI conformation | public.date public.archive com.allume.stuffit-archive |
Developed by | Raymond Lau (creator), currently Smith Micro |
Initial release | 1987 |
Container for | files, including resource forks |
Filename extension | .sitx |
---|---|
Internet media type | application/x-stuffitx |
Type code | SITX |
Uniform Type Identifier (UTI) | com.stuffit.archive.sitx |
UTI conformation | public.date public.archive com.allume.stuffit-archive |
Initial release | 2002 |
Type of format | archive file format |
Container for | files, including resource forks |
StuffIt is a family of computer software utilities for archiving and compressing files. Originally produced for the Macintosh, versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux (x86), and Sun Solaris were later created. The proprietary compression format used by the StuffIt utilities is also termed StuffIt.
StuffIt was originally developed in the summer of 1987 by Raymond Lau, who was then a student at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. It combined the fork-combining capabilities of utilities such as MacBinary with newer compression algorithms similar to those used in ZIP. Compared to existing utilities on the Mac, notably PackIt, StuffIt offered "one step" operation and higher compression ratios. By the fall of 1987 StuffIt had largely replaced PackIt in the Mac world, with many software sites even going so far as to convert existing PackIt archives to save more space.
StuffIt soon became very popular and Aladdin Systems was formed to market it (the last shareware release by Lau was version 1.5.1). They split the product line in two, offering StuffIt Classic in shareware and StuffIt Deluxe as a commercial package. Deluxe added a variety of additional functions, including additional compression methods and integration into the Mac Finder to allow files to be compressed from a "Magic Menu" without opening StuffIt itself.[1]
StuffIt was upgraded several times, and Lau removed himself from direct development as major upgrades to the "internal machinery" were rare. Because new features and techniques appeared regularly on the Macintosh platform, the shareware utility Compact Pro emerged as a competitor to StuffIt in the early 1990s.