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MEDIAFOUR > PRODUCTS THAT ADAPT TO YOUR NEEDS WORDS BY LARISA REDINS
Launched in 1995, Mediafour was initially created by two good college friends who shared a love of all things "nerdy" – including computers. While the company originally created products for the Commodore Amiga, over the past 17 years Mediafour has enjoyed creating award- winning Windows products that simplify the computer experience for the end user.
In the rush to create "the next big thing," other products may leave gaps in usability — areas where customers are left to find their own solution to a problem, which inevitably results in consumer frustration.
"At Mediafour, we believe that computers should be seamless tools that adapt to your needs, instead of the other way around," says Rick Rockhold, the president of Mediafour. "Our small but dedicated and talented staff takes pride in creating the innovative tools that fill these gaps – essentially effectively solving problems without introducing new ones."
An Innovative First
More than 10 years ago, when the iPod was only available to Mac users, Mediafour
was the first company to bring the iPod to Windows with XPlay. Since then, in order to adapt to the end users' ever- changing needs, Mediafour retired XPlay and introduced Media SOS, a tool that
simplifies the ability to copy content from your iPod, iPhone, iPad, Android, or digital camera. Media SOS also can detect damage to the music database on your iPod/iPhone/iPad, and rescue formerly lost music and videos.
Mediafour's Flagship Product: MacDrive
The company's most popular product is the MacDrive – which essentially allows hassle-free access to Mac disks in Windows. For instance, if an end user has installed Windows on their Mac using Boot Camp, MacDrive works with the Mac's internal disk, allowing the user full access to their Mac desktop, documents, and all other files.
"With MacDrive installed, Mac disks 'just work' — users get an entirely normal drive letter for the Mac disk, where they can copy, open and save files just as they would with a normal Windows disk," says Rockhold. "There's nothing to learn and no application to run since MacDrive becomes an invisible extension of Windows itself - freeing the user to accomplish the task at hand without worrying about file transfer issues."
Who Finds MacDrive Useful?
MacDrive is popular with a diverse group of customers — from hobbyists to movie studios to educators to law enforcement. To better address this range, Mediafour recently made MacDrive available in two forms: MacDrive Standard, which provides access to Mac disks and a basic set of tools; and MacDrive Pro, which adds support for Mac RAID disks (striping and mirroring), and additional tools for advanced users.
Other MacDrive Features
MacDrive also includes a broad set of other tools to create and format Mac disks, burn Mac CDs and DVDs, and even repair damaged Mac disks. Additionally, MacDrive Pro adds even more features, including support for striped (RAID 0) and mirrored (RAID 1) Mac disks, and additional security and performance features. MacDrive Pro will even silently and invisibly defragment files on Mac disks.
"Trusted by many thousands of users for over fifteen years, MacDrive is fast and reliable. MacDrive has been used by hobbyists to transfer documents, movie studios to record high-definition video directly to a Mac disk from Windows, and by government agencies to performing forensic analysis of Mac disks," continues Rockhold.
Mediafour in the Future
With respect to the future, Mediafour plans to remain a cutting-edge company and consequently, is actively developing several new products that will continue to fill gaps in the computer industry. Interested in learning more about this company's developments? Users can readily obtain the latest updates at