Symantec Partition Magic 8 – It Still Has Some Magic

I must say that I’m a long-time fan of Partition Magic and have used it for several years. It saved my life more than one time. It was always the reference for disk management and I’ve recommended it to more people and companies than I can count. And even today, if you ask anyone for a partition management or recovery product, Partition Magic will be probably one of the tools recommended.

PowerQuest was the original creator of this great tool, and later Symantec bought it. However, after its initial release under the Symantec logo, which included a few changes, there were no more updates made to Partition Magic, and the rumor is that there are no plans to release a new version. Full disclosure: I tried to find the source for that rumor but could not, so take the information with a grain of salt.

The question is, do you think Partition Magic is in need of an update? Perhaps this review will help you decide.

Symantec should add support for the new operating systems: Vista 32, Vista 64, Windows Home Server, and Windows 2008 Server.

Symantec's Partition Magic 8 needs to become Partition Magic 9 or Partition Magic 2008 real soon. Otherwise it will become obsolete as more and more users adopt Vista. Yes, Microsoft has yet to solve some Vista adoption issues, and Windows XP and earlier versions are still the most widely used operating systems. This will allow Symantec to continue to live and sell under the reputation of Partition Magic 8 for a bit longer. But time is running out, and with a price tag higher than the competition, Symantec really needs to make a choice. Either stop supporting the product and state in a clear manner that there won’t be any more versions, or make an update to support the newer operating systems.

If a Vista version is released, I won’t mind the old user interface or the orange setup screen. Really! This is how good this tool is. If you are one of many out there for whom Vista is not yet in the plans, or if you work at a company, or need to support companies that have Windows XP or earlier desktops, then Partition Magic is a terrific tool that does its job very well.

In the end, however, I can’t give Partition Magic a higher score than 3 out of 5. If I had done this review last year, before Vista was released, then Partition Magic would get a 5. And believe me, I don’t give a 5 unless the product is near-perfect.