version 2.0 · a rewrite, not a facelift
The same everyday “what changed?” tool you know as WDiff32, with a much wider scope. This page is the part you will notice; the changelog has every detail, including what changed or was removed.
UTF-8 and UTF-16 files, international file names, accented and non-Latin paths. If you ever saw a mangled umlaut or a file you could not open by name, that is over.
Beyond ZIP: 7-Zip, RAR, tar (also compressed), CAB and ISO open like a directory and compare like one — including an archive inside an archive, to any depth.
File > Synchronize… previews and runs a mirror or update sync
straight from the comparison on screen. Headless: /sync, built for the Task
Scheduler, dry run by default.
File > Export Report… turns what is on screen into a self-contained
HTML page, plain text, or JSON for scripts. Unverified items are never reported as
identical.
A file that moved or was renamed shows up as one pair rather than as one deletion plus one addition.
Parallel directory scans, background hashing tuned for network shares, and a persistent content-hash cache: comparing the same large tree a second time finishes in a fraction of the first run’s time.
Started with two paths it opens the comparison straight away — all that
git difftool, TortoiseGit/SVN, Total Commander or WinSCP need.
/read-only and /no-backup keep a working tree clean.
Converter pipeline for PDF, Word, SQLite or image metadata (external converters, not bundled) · saved configurations · exclude-pattern editor · reworked Find with match count · multi-level undo/redo · update check (never installs on its own) · MSI and portable ZIP.
Side by side — the way the program itself would show it.
| WDiff32 1.59 | Diffoniq 2.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Text encoding | ANSI code pages | Full Unicode: UTF-8, UTF-16, international file names |
| Archives | ZIP | ZIP, 7z, RAR, tar/gz/bz2/xz/zst, CAB, ISO — nested to any depth |
| Renamed or moved files | one deletion + one addition | detected and shown as one pair |
| Folder sync | — | mirror or update, previewed on screen or headless (/sync) |
| Reports | — | HTML, text, JSON — also from the command line |
| Directory scan | single-threaded; content check blocked the window | parallel on both sides; background hashing; persistent hash cache |
| Binary files | slow line diff of raw bytes | single pass, summarised: size, first differing offset, content hash |
| Other programs | basic command line | difftool-ready: /read-only, /no-backup, exit codes |
| Help | .chm file | HTML, opens in your browser (F1) |
| Installation | setup.exe, 32-bit | MSI installer (silent install, licence deployment) or portable ZIP — 64-bit |
| Licensing | registration key typed into a dialog | signed licence file, offline, no activation — free for registered WDiff32 users |
Install 2.0 over WDiff32 and your settings and registration come along automatically. Registered WDiff32 users get the 2.x licence free — how it works, and how to claim a licence file if you need one. Two keys changed meaning and the executable has a new name; the changelog lists everything that scripts and shortcuts need to know.