Acronis ships Acronis PartitionExpert 2003, the first utility that provides two ways for users to create, resize, move, and copy partitions

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF., December 17, 2002 — Acronis, Inc., the technological leader in systems software development, has begun shipping Acronis PartitionExpert 2003, the only disk partitioning utility that boasts two modes of operation that ensure that everyone from average PC users to IT professionals can create, resize and copy disk partitions successfully.

Acronis PartitionExpert 2003 accomplishes this by offering both an automated and manual mode using a Windows XP-like interface. The automated mode uses a task-based wizard that takes average users through the steps to create, resize or copy partitions. The manual mode puts all of the features and options at the user's fingertips.

"Competitive disk utilities are hard to use because they are confusing and give the average PC user too many variables; there is too much of an opportunity to make a mistake and put user data at risk," says Dennis Burke, manager of business development at Acronis. "Acronis PartitionExpert 2003 takes the mystery and anxiety out of creating disk partitions by giving the average PC user a wizard that automates the tasks and ensure the their data is secure. The expert user appreciates the array of options and flexibility available in the manual mode."

Also unique to Acronis PartitionExpert 2003 is its support for all popular Windows and Linux file systems, including exclusive support for Linux Ext3 and ReiserFS.

"Acronis PartitionExpert is significantly faster than any competitive product — 10 times faster or more — because of its innovative technology," says Maxim Tsypliaev, president of Acronis, Inc.

For example, a user can resize a partition in minutes, while a competitive product could take an hour or more to complete that same task.

After installation, users can create a bootable disk or CD that can perform partitioning tasks on any computer, with or without an operating system installed.

"A bonus utility included with the retail boxed version is Acronis RecoveryExpert, a program that lets users quickly and easily recover a partition that has been lost or deleted," adds Burke. "Some data recovery services charge $500 or more to restore lost data, which all that was lost was the partition information. If you ever accidentally delete a partition or have a system failure that deletes the partition data, this program will more than pay for itself." The utility, which lists for $30 on the Acronis Web site, is included at no extra charge.

Acronis PartitionExpert 2003 is currently shipping. It is available through major retail outlets and directly from Acronis at www.acronis.com. List price is $49.99. It can be installed on a PC running any version of Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT / 2000 / XP.