Software Oasis Backup Utility Review: Windows Backup Software At A Reasonable Price?
Introduction
My initial impression of Software Oasis Backup Utility was that it’s a very basic shareware product converted into a commercial application. The user interface seems more interested in displaying a picture of its ‘box’ (it’s a downloadable product) than in spelling things correctly. For example:
“CopyWrite (sic) 2004.”
“use cutom (sic) folder name.”
However, Software Oasis Backup Utility does do everything it claims to be able to do. Therefore, the first question you need to ask yourself is whether or not it’s worth the price (under $30). Secondly, is there a better product available for the same or lesser price? I hope this review helps you to find answer those questions.
Price to Value (2 out of 5)
What’s Hot:
Software Oasis Backup Utility is priced at $29.95. At the time of the review it was available for $19.95 from the Software Oasis website.
What’s Not:
Software Oasis Backup Utility amounts to a couple of command-line scripts wrapped in a very basic user interface. The functionality it contains is available in many freeware or shareware products that don’t have its drawbacks. I recommend shopping around with the trial versions of other applications and then deciding what is a good value for you.
Installation & Setup (4 out of 5)
What’s Hot:
Installation of Software Oasis Backup Utility was very straightforward. It was a normal installation process without any difficult questions and had sensible defaults.
What’s Not:
Considering that Software Oasis Backup Utility supports versions up to Windows XP only, I would expect the installer or the application to do a version check.
User Interface (3 out of 5)
What’s Hot:
The Software Oasis Backup Utility user interface is very straightforward. There are three tabs:
- Main Window: You can add and remove folders and files to back up and set a countdown delay.
- Setting window: You choose if you make a direct copy of the files, or a zip copy of the files. The zip file suggests it supports removeable media but it’s unclear what happens differently. I would guess it would split the backup across multiple disks. You can also password protect the zip files.
- Schedule: You choose when you want Software Oasis Backup Utility to run.
What’s Not:
One third of the UI is taken up by the product logo and the publisher’s address, which seems odd.
Bad quality control: there are at least two spelling mistakes in the UI.
The UI fails badly when run on multi monitors as it tries to center dialogs in the wrong part of the screen.
It doesn’t appear to support network drives unless you map the drive to a drive letter. Home networks are getting more and more common and are a common place to store backups.
Product Features (4 out of 5)
What’s Hot:
Software Oasis Backup Utility has many of the features you would expect of any backup software such as:
- Scheduling at any time of day on any day(s) of the week you choose.
- Option to run when windows starts. I really appreciate that it asks for this permission rather than making it the automatic default.
- Support for Zip files including multipart and passwords.
What’s Not:
Features Software Oasis Backup Utility lacks include:
- Ability to exclude folders. Often you do not want an entire tree and it’s nice to say take all of c:\documents but not c:\documents\videos.
- Network support.
- Ability to run under Windows Vista. It’s unclear if Vista is supposed to be supported. The application installs and runs with no errors but throws an error about not being able to find the file when you start the backup. The backup then seems to proceed. This seems odd for an application as simple as this. The publishers page does not list Vista as an option.
Help & Support (3 out of 5)
What’s Hot:
An email address is listed on the main UI. This appears to be the sum total of the support options for Software Oasis Backup Utility. There are no help files, no tutorials, no online forums, and no contact number.
Since I had no reason to use the email address, I can’t comment on whether it works or not.
What’s Not:
The website is very confusing. In the customer care section there is a link for technical support but that just tells you to contact the publisher. But as far as I can determine, Software Oasis is the publisher.
The contact customer care page seems only to care about sales support and refunds.
In general it gives me a bad feeling.
Images
Suggested Features
- Network support.
- Vista Support.
- Incremental backups.
Conclusion
Software Oasis Backup Utility does what it is made for and nothing more. It feels dated and not worth the $29.95 (or even the $19.95 I paid for it). Before you spend any money on it, download some trial versions of other backup software to make sure this is the best available. The lack of decent support and the very basic spelling mistakes give me concerns over the quality of this software.
