BC3 display not readable

[JeffK]

Hello. I have just purchased BC3 standard (an upgrade from BC2 which I have used intermittently since 2005). When I open the program to do a folder comparison on my Lenova Yoga Pro 2 the display is such that the text is small and truncated and the icons are all but invisible.

Other than changing my screen resolution and hence affecting other programs do any forum members also have this problem and how have they resolved it?

Thank you,

Jeff

[Chris]

From the specs on Lenovo's website, it looks like the Yoga 2 Pro has a 13.3" QHD+ (3200 x 1800) screen. Windows is probably set to scale font and graphics sizes on such a high DPI screen.

Beyond Compare 3 doesn't scale well on high DPI screens. Beyond Compare 4 features improved scaling on high DPI screens, so you'll probably have much better text and icon size in the newer version.

You can download Beyond Compare 4 from our download page:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php

[JeffK]

Thanks Chris.

Yes I downloaded from that link. And it does look a lot better.

Unfortunately I only ever have and would use BC for folder and file compare, and not for file contents compare, and not very often either, so I find it a bit hard to justify the cost of upgrading to BC4 to myself, even though I would like to.

Jeff

[Chris]

If you haven't found it yet, here's a summary of features added in version 4 in case any of them motivate you to upgrade:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...?zz=v4whatsnew

[Aaron]

BC3 was released back in 2008 before high DPI display were as commonly available on Windows or Linux. While we patched several issues with DPI scaling in BC3, we had to rework the interface for BC4 to help support these resolutions along with the OSX platform and Retina displays. It's one of our What's New features we tackled during BC4 development:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...?zz=v4whatsnew

You went from BC2 to BC3 to help with the greater discount. If you decide to go to BC4, you can go through the Upgrade process to receive an additional discount from an Upgraded BC3 license to BC4 (which would be the same price as if you went straight from BC2 to BC4).
http://www.scootersoftware.com/shop....=upgradepolicy

[JeffK]

Thanks Chris and Aaron.

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying Aaron. However I think I do know what the upgrade prices are for me $15 from BC2 to BC3 standard, $30 from BC2 to BC4 standard, $50 from BC2 to BC4 Pro. (In all cases less the $15 I have paid to go from BC2 to BC3 standard.)

I would like to have the better display the BC4 provides but may not be able to justify the extra $35 for the BC4 functionality given that I would not normally use it. If it had Microsoft Onedrive built in that would be a carrot as I am using that for cloud storage.

[Chris]

Beyond Compare 4.1 Pro will include OneDrive support. It's in internal testing right now, as soon as it passes testing we'll release it as a public beta. The public beta release will be announced on our forums, Facebook page, and Twitter.

[JeffK]

Thanks Chris that's good news.

Although it frustrates me that I have to do so I might upgrade to BC4 Standard to get the readable display and consider Pro later. It's crazy that I upgraded to BC3 but have to revert to BC2 to get a readable interface.

I didn't realise that BC3 was so old - that just indicated how little I have used it. As I said it was for folder comparison and not for more serious use such as a programmer might have.

Jeff

[Aaron]

BC2's display was also never designed for high DPI displays. It's fortunate that you are still able to use the Directory Viewer and that it scales well for you on your display, but that's down to how well Windows is handling it for us rather than our own support.

We never try to force users to upgrade, which actually lead to some of this confusion. We continue to host the latest major version of each Beyond Compare 1, 2 and 3, in case users need an older revision for an older Windows OS. We also do not force users to upgrade to the most major release. However, if you are using Beyond Compare on a modern machine with a high DPI display or the current Windows release, I'd strongly recommend the latest (v4) to match software era to hardware era.