Compare Files

Compare Files is a tiny and portable software application that lets you open two files and place them side by side, in order to compare their content and figure out differences. It offers support for DOC, DOCX, TXT, XML, PHP and HTML format.

Portable app with a simple interface

Since there is no setup pack involved, you can drop the app directory anywhere on the disk and just click the executable to launch Compare Files. Another possibility is to keep it stored on a USB flash drive, in order to directly run it on any computer with minimum effort and no previous installers. Plus, it doesn't edit the Windows registry configuration.
The user-friendly interface is represented by a large window with a black background and clear-cut structure, where you can press two buttons to open two different files.

Color codes for identical and different lines

The program immediately compares the two files and reveals all lines next to their line number. The identical lines are highlighted in blue, while the different lines are shown in red.
Although the tool integrates buttons for copying, cutting and pasting text, our tests have revealed that it's not possible to edit text.

Evaluation and conclusion

The software utility worked smoothly in our tests, without triggering the operating system to hang, crash or prompt error dialogs. It had minimal impact on computer performance, using low CPU and RAM.
To sum it up, Compare Files provides you with a simple method for comparing all lines within files, and figure out which are identical and which are different.
However, it has a rudimentary-looking interface and a small set of options. We must also take into account the fact that it hasn't been updated for a long time.