How to do a "diff" of an entire directory tree? Is there a software available?

Question

Assume there are 2 directory trees

D:\dir1\ 

and

C:\dir2

Now I want to create a diff report between the directories and files, So not only I need a report which says which files have been modified and what has been modified between the main directories but also the report must give me details of any files or sub directories that have been deleted or added new etc

Should I checkin the dir1 to subversion and then do a check with dir2 ? If so how should I proceed?

Or is there an easier way to proceed? Any directory diff software available?

This can be both Windows based or Linux based.

Answer 1

In Linux diff -r directory1 directory2 would give you that information.

Answer 2

If you're using Windows, you can check out WinMerge which does diffs of folders: http://winmerge.org/