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Backblaze 7.0 adds unlimited version history option, macOS Catalina support, and more

I’ve used Backblaze for many years as my go-to backup service on macOS. Just last week, it saved me from re-creating a presentation I worked on for three hours. I had been having issues with one of my laptops (due to macOS Catalina), so I decided to reformat the drive and set up from scratch. I didn’t realize that iCloud Drive hadn’t uploaded the document, though. I am not blaming Apple here because I was running a beta OS, and I knew I had some wonky things going on. Thankfully, Backblaze was working, though. I logged in to the online portal, downloaded the PowerPoint, and was up and running. One of the things that makes Backblaze such an excellent backup service on macOS is how much care they put into their app. It’s fast, lightweight, and is 100% native to macOS. Today, Backblaze for Mac 7.0 is being released. All clients will update over the next two weeks, or you can download by clicking on the Backblaze icon in the Menu Bar and check for updates. So what’s new in Backblaze 7.0?

Extended Version History

Backblaze has always kept a 30-Day Version History of backed up files, but today they are giving you the option to extend your Version History to a year or forever. If you extend your Version History, all versions of your files that are backed up — whether you’ve updated, changed, or entirely deleted them from your computer — will remain in your backup for one year after being modified or deleted on your Mac or Windows PC. Extending your Version History to 1 year is an additional $2/month per license and is charged based on your license type (monthly, yearly, or 2-year). Any changes to existing subscriptions will be prorated to match up with your license renewal date.

If you update to the forever version history, it’s $2/month (prorated to your license plan type) plus $0.005/GB/Month for versions modified more than one year ago. If you have more questions about the Version History, check out this FAQ.

What else is new in Backblaze 7.0?

Backblaze has also changed how it transmits large files on your machine by reworking how it groups and breaks apart files for upload. The maximum packet size has increased from 30MB to 100MB. This change allows the app to transmit data more efficiently by better leveraging threading, which also smoothes out upload performance, reduces sensitivity to latency, and leads to smaller data structures.

Version 7.0 also supports macOS Catalina. Be warned that Catalina is relatively aggressive about security pop-ups, so Backblaze has reworked some of its dialog boxes in response.

I am excited to update my laptops to version 7 of the Backblaze client. If you don’t have an offsite backup solution for you or your family, I would highly recommend Backblaze. It includes unlimited storage for only $6 per month.

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