Exces Review & Giveaway
Posted by Taylor Sternberg on 02/2/08 in Featured, Giveaways, Organization, Utilities
Everybody has secrets. From something mundane like a list of possible gift ideas for your girlfriend’s upcoming birthday, to something more important like a text file with passwords or licenses in it. While OS X does include a function for encrypting files right out of the box, there have been a few products come out recently that aim to make this simpler, and more intuitive. One of them is Exces from SeoSoft.
I am going to take you through Exces a bit here but and guys over at SeoSoft have been kind enough to give us 3 licenses to give away at the end of the review - so read on for your chance to win.
Exces is a quick and easy way for users to encrypt data with a password. Version 1.5 offers various changes, including:
- Auto-lock, which locks your data after 10 minutes of inactivity. Unfortunately, files that are open will not autolock (this is to avoid data corruption).
- “Lots of polish. Little things have been changed all over the place to improve the global behavior of Exces.”
- Various bug fixes.
We reviewed Exces recently but I have some updated thoughts as well.
Privacy concerns with files makes sense to me, and there are those who need privacy with their files. I can safely say that I am not one who needs individual file security outside what OS X currently offers (File Vault - check your security preferences to check it out).
When opening the application, the first thing I noticed was the 3D globe. The whole application’s GUI centers around a graphical “security orb” which I find fairly superfluous. The application could have done without it, as the orb adds excess (punny?) screen real estate to the window. However, it is a visual reminder of the file being locked or unlocked, so it is helpful, if a little larger than expected.
You start Exces by creating an Exces File, with a storage size of your preference. You must reserve this amount of space. It’s not overly flexible right now, but allows you a space to put your files to be secured in.
When the file is locked, the orb is blue, closed, and secured.

When the password is entered, the orb is open, and ready to receive files.

And it really is that simple. You can lock, and unlock your files as you see fit.
The shrink button allows you to shrink the file you have created down to what’s in it. If you have a 10GB storage file, with only 2 GB of files within it, you can shrink down the file down to 2GB. That’s the flexibility that I wanted, but I would have preferred if the shrink function was automatic.
The preferences are minimal, and only currently offer an auto-lock function, along with an auto-updater and a registration page.
Exces is a very simple application to secure your files, and gets the job done. Consider this the convenience option of file security. But in my tests, I found that in order to unlock the file, I must have Exces installed. Not very practical if you’re sending a secure file to another person who does not have Exces. But all gripes aside, if you’re looking for quick security, Exces works well. Give it a try.
…Or win a license! This contest is simple guys. Simply tell us how you would use Exces or a feature that you would like to see included and you’re entered to win. Contest closes a week from today at midnight EST and winners will be announced shortly after that. Good luck!
If you missed this giveaway Exces retails for €19.50 from Seosoft. A trial version is available.
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