The main function of Mac Backup Guru is to create bootable clones of your Mac's startup disk. However, it can also sync saved versions of your disk, or even just a folder, with the current version. And it can create snapshots, just like Time Machine. So, for example, if you set it to take a snapshot on a regular schedule, you can then go back to whatever snapshot you want.
You can also choose which folders to back up and where rather than having to back up an entire disk to your Time Machines drive and then designate which folders to exclude. Time Machine offers more control over scheduling and, of course, Apple's utility doesn't offer the ability to sync folders or create bootable clones.
Although the snapshots functionality is similar to Time Machine, Mac Backup Guru offers more control. You can, for example, browse snapshots in Finder, rather than having to use the Time Machine utility to restore files.
Mac Backup Guru's interface is simple and will be familiar to you if you've used some of the other tools listed here. However, some menu buttons, notably those allowing you to choose the source and destination, seemed small and cramped to us. We would have liked these menus and the options within them to be a little larger for easier selection.
Once you have chosen a source, which can be an entire volume or a specific folder, and a destination, you can choose to exclude folders from the backup. You can also schedule automatic backups. The scheduling is pretty basic, but that means it's also easy to set up. Simply click on the days you want the backup to run and the time you want it to run. It's worth noting that while you can run the backup on any day you want, you must run it at the same time every day. You can also run ad hoc backups by pressing the “Backup” button in the main window.
The last option is to choose how many snapshots to keep. Once you reach the specified number, Mac Backup Guru will start deleting the oldest snapshot every time a new one is created.
Mac Backup Guru is an easy-to-use backup tool that keeps options and settings to a minimum while still providing several useful features. It's also good value for money – at the time of writing it was on sale for less than $9/£7.16, a significant discount from its usual price of $29/£23.05.
