It's 2007. Why the heck is file compression still a pain in the ass? Most people have standardized on the Zip file compression format for compressing files, however there are a few out there that feel the need to point out that RAR offers superior compression ratios. Dealing with those two wasn't really that bad, but now we're starting to see newer algorithms that are providing noticeably improved compression ratios. What to do?
Get yourself a copy of 7-Zip. 7-Zip can unpack RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS files, and can create 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR files (and obviously unpack those as well).
The 7z file format is 7-Zip's claim to fame, with approximately 40% better file compression than a "compatible" zip file, and around 10% better than RAR, the previous file compression champion. 7-Zip's official release is for Windows, but the site links to unofficial Linux and Mac versions.
Now you can start sending your friends and business associates files that they have no idea what to do with! Either that, or you can standardize on the 7z format, and know that your files are smaller than everyone else's. Or you could just use it to create and unpack Zip files and stop trying to be so damn superior.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-29-2007 @ 7:56PM
Peter said...
7-Zip is great and easy to use. Some people have had problems with the current release under Vista, but it works fine for me. (Vista Business and Ultimate)
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7-29-2007 @ 8:13PM
Gardiner Westbound said...
Someone invents a better mousetrap, and the mice get smarter. So someone invents an even better mousetrap. It's called progress.
Reply
7-30-2007 @ 12:11AM
Aalaap said...
Even I don't like it everytime a new format comes along claiming to be superior than good ol' Zip and RAR, but the new 7z comression format is the last reason to use the 7-Zip archiver.
I switched to it a couple of years ago because its fast, it's small, it's open source and it supports extracting from Zip as well as RAR files. There's nothing else out there that's so good and yet is open source. I even prefer it's minimalistic appearance to the very 2000-style, unnecessarily ornate default skins of both WinZip and WinRAR.
So don't think of 7-Zip has a 7z format archiver; think of it as a replacement for your WinZip or WinRAR.
For me, it's 7-Zip for life.
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7-30-2007 @ 1:00AM
ahoier said...
Im not too big on the 7-zip format, since I don't compress too much stuff...but it definately replaced my old WinRAR and WiNZip :)
Dump the propreitary crap ;)
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7-30-2007 @ 3:50AM
Darklord said...
Winace is the best compression tool
http://winace.com
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7-30-2007 @ 1:36PM
James said...
Dunno about that, I've found that 7Zip does some things poorly when compared to WinRAR, my old stalwart. Example: select several archived files, then right-mouse drag them somewhere. IIRC, with WinRAR, you get an "extract all files here" and an "extract to individual subfolders", and either command spawns a single WinRAR process. With 7Zip, I think it only gives you the "extract here" option, and spawns one process per archive. Unless and until somebody gives me a better reason, I'll be using WinRAR for all the file formats it can handle.
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7-30-2007 @ 10:02PM
Abe Ash said...
Chech this blog
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8-01-2007 @ 5:39PM
Darklord said...
Compress MS Office 430MB ISO to 1.4MB with KGB Archive
http://digg.com/tech_news/Compress_MS_Office_430MB_ISO_to_1.4MB_with_KGB_Archiver
http://kgbarchiver.net/
if wht they said is true then KGB Archiver is the best compression utility of planet earth :D
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