 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2020) |
| Astarte (later Roxio, Corel) Toast | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Toast version 9 in data pane | |
| Developer | Roxio |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Type | Optical disc authoring software |
| License | Proprietarycommercial software |
| Website | Roxio Toast |
Toast is anoptical disc authoring andmedia conversionsoftware application formacOS. Its name is a play on the wordburn, a term used for the writing of information onto a disc through the use of a laser.
Discs can be burned directly throughMac OS X, but Toast provides added control over the process as well as extra features, including file recovery for damaged discs, cataloging and tracking of files burned to disc. It also provides support for audio and video formats thatQuickTime does not support, such asFLAC andOgg Vorbis.
Toast was conceived of by Greg Kerr in 1993, then CEO ofAstarte, who outsourced development to Markus Fest. In 1997, the product and team was purchased byAdaptec, and later transferred toRoxio (then a division of Adaptec).[1]
Toast 4 is the last release that can run onSystem 7 with a68k CPU.[2] With version 5, Toast was renamed "Toast Titanium" and merged with a formerly separate application, Toast DVD.[3] Toast 5 Titanium introduced support forVideo CD andDVD burning,[4] which was improved in version 6 by addition ofMPEG-2 encoding.[5]
Version 6 also addedDVD authoring features, enabling the creation of video and photo DVDs with menus and buttons. Unlike Apple'siDVD, it supported external DVD burners. Its "ToastAnywhere" feature let users burn discs inserted in another Mac running Toast on the local network, through Apple'sRendezvous protocol. It also gained the ability to compress and encrypt files before burning them.[6]
Toast 6 Titanium included another Roxio app, CD Spin Doctor 2, which can clean noise from an audio track.[7]
Roxio announced Toast 8 Titanium in January 2007.[8] Toast 8 Titanium added multiple features includingTiVoToGo andBlu-ray support.[9][10][11]
Main features of the Toast 6 are: video and photo DVDs can have menus and buttons; package includes ToastAnywhere, that uses Apple'sBonjour protocol to support burning discs from other Macs on the local network; compression and 128-bit encryption of files and folders before burning; support for all audio and video codecs supported byQuickTime; improved interface; creation ofslide shows with panning, zooming, transitions, and a soundtrack using the "Motion Pictures" feature.[6]
In a 2003 review of Toast 6,Macworld described Toast as "venerable" and the "reigning champ" of Mac disc-burning software.[6]