Mike Bombich has just released version 3.1 of Carbon Copy Cloner. The new release features rsync 3.0.0 to provide even greater fidelity when backing up using the "Copy selected items" backup method. Whether it sounds impressive to you or not, everyone should use a hard disk cloner.

And CCC 3.1 is exactly what you need. God forbid to wake up one day to years of lost photos, videos, music and various precious files just because you never thought it could happen to you.

The latest version of CCC features a new interface designed to make the cloning and backup procedure more intuitive and more responsive, according to Mike. The developer also claims users now have better control over what gets backed up, and are provided with detailed information about the progress of each backup. In addition to general backup, can also also clones one hard drive to another, creating an exact replica of your source hard drive. As Mike himself states, "CCC's block-level copy offers the absolute best fidelity in the industry!"

So, you probably want to dig deeper into the new features. Well, aside CCC 3.1's Support for block-level disk-to-disk clones, the synchronization is built-in, not bolted on, while the utility software can back up across the network to another Macintosh.

CCC no longer allows the scheduling of tasks that erase the target volume. It now sports advanced scheduling capabilities, meaning that backup tasks can now be scheduled on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Still, you can indicate that a backup task should run when the backup device is attached. As such, you don't even need to be logged in for your backups to occur!

A good device example is Apple's iPod. CCC recognizes iPods specifically, allowing time for the iPod:iTunes synchronization to complete, according to Mike. The new version also brings the ability to drill down into folders to select exactly what gets copied and what doesn't.

CCC 3.1's built-in software update feature notifies you when updates are available, while the program now offers a dialog box to opt out of a backup task that is scheduled to occur when the target volume is reattached. Also, issues with installing the Authentication Credentials installer package from multiple source machines on a single target machine are now gone.