Oct 10 2006
Archivers and Compressors
rev. 7 May 2008
7-Zip- License: Open Source
- Description: 7Zip is an open-source archiver similar to WinZip or WinRAR. It also has support for its own “7z” compression type, which is considerably more powerful than its RAR, ACE, or ZIP counterparts.
PeaZip- License: Open Source
- Description: PeaZip is a really attractive-looking archiver frontend. It began mostly as a frontend to its only .pea format, which doesn’t seek the best compression, but rather the best encryption/security. However, the program has recently added generic support for a lot more programs, and is becoming a really nice client. As a warning, however, it doesn’t support drag & drop (this feature is heavily tied to desktop environment, and PeaZip is cross-platform). So while that disqualifies it as my main archiver, I recommend this client if such a feature isn’t important to you.
- KGB Archiver
- License: Open Source
- Description: This relatively new archiver boasts a powerful native compression format, but the interface is nowhere near as friendly as that of 7-Zip. An interesting newcomer to the compression utility world, however, and worth a look.
IZARC- License: Freeware
- Description: This multi-format compression tool claims to unpack an impressive variety of archive types and looks to be very full-featured.
ZipGenius- License: Freeware
- Description: This is another intuitive archiving tool with support for a wide variety of archives, including one-step .tar.[gz|bz2].
ALZip- License: Freeware
- Description: This multi-formatted archiving program features an easy-to-use interface (with rather ugly icons, if I may say so). It is free for non-commercial use. As of v7.0, it also sports a native x64 version.
ExtractNow- License: Freeware
- Description: ExtractNow is a small, simple utility for extracting from a wide variety of archives—it’s the only free solution that can manage StuffIt archives. It’s perhaps not as intuitive as WinZip, WinRAR, or 7-Zip, but it’s a nifty little program.
ZipGenius is a free archive tool http://www.zipgenius.it/eng/index.php I use instead of compressed folders
Thanks for the heads-up, Stuart. It looks like a good program; I’ll check it and add it in the next few days.
I like the program filzip located at http://www.filzip.com/
Has a nice gui, fast, clean and also knows the .tar, tgz and .gz files I often use.
7Zip is awesome. Plus there’s also a portable version on PortableApps.com that you can run off of a CD, Flashdrive, External Harddrive, etc.