What makes a defragger the best defrag software? It's the one that lets you defrag a file or defrag a hard disk the fastest, right? Or is it the one that lets you defrag a file or defrag a hard disk more completely? Ultimately, while you probably want fast defragmentation, what you're really striving for is to fix slow PC and faster PC performance, right? Or do you need the best free space consolidation for faster write performance? Okay, maybe it's a little more complicated after all -- you want something that gives you faster PC performance and does not waste your money. So there's always freeware, right?

Maybe it's a combination of lots of things. Of course, we consider PerfectDisk the best defrag software on the planet, but we understand it's what real users think and do that really answers the question. Which brings me to Richard Barnaby of Nevada, a Diskeeper user for the past 15 years, who is now a PerfectDisk user. That would seem like a user pretty well entrenched in what he knows and likes. Yet, he switched. And told me why...

'I just decided to buy. I have been a Diskeeper customer for many years (15 or so) and decided to buy your product because 1. It's cheaper 2. It's better 3. Good tech support 4. Good user forum, and 5. The final clincher... I just updated to the latest build, and saw the updated information. You have the decency to say 'bug' and 'Flaw'. It communicates so much more clearly, and doesn't treat your user base as morons. I have had it with comments from software developers (instead of saying plainly as you do, 'xxx had a bug and we fixed it') like 'The behavior of process xxx has been modified to conform to the new look and feel desired by some customers.. blah blah blah.' Or in the case of MOST developers, the bug fix report is not even available. You have my vote, my money, and my gratitude.'

Of course I liked hearing this. But still, I wondered if there was more. Was there anything else that made Richard turn his back on a product he had used for 15 years? Well, there was indeed a turning point...

'After transferring me to another sales agent, they transferred me to PerfectDisk's Tech Support. I got Greg. I didn't know it was 'Greg' at that time, and I didn't even realize who 'Greg' was until much later when I posted to the PerfectDisk forum. Because at the time, he dispensed with the formality, of 'well, you need to go back to level 1.5 customer support...' and simply said, 'Let's see what I can do to help you right now.' This, to me, is the summum bonum of customer support. I got the answers I needed, and proceeded with my trial. I couldn't believe the number of providers I dismissed because they were not interested in providing 'free technical support' to trial users. Gosh, I'd think presales support would be high on ANYONE's list. But apparently not. If I can't figure out how to approach your software, and you are unwilling to show me, then guess what...I can't buy!'

Not just the best defrag software...but the human touch too.