Ok Ok I know the first thing you say to me is why would I need to zip files. Gmail allows me to send 10MB files . However Zipping might be one way to utilize and leverage this space further. Winzip/ Winrar comes to the mind immediately doesn’t it?
Whereas we all have used Winzip and Winrar those beautiful utilities little do we know or care that they are not free. They are trialware and to use them beyond the time limit is illegal. So what do you do? What utility exists which can replace these products for free and yet provide the same productivity…The reply is 7-Zip
7-Zip is a freeware application which can be downloaded from www.7-zip.org .
If you like me care for GNU based products then 7-zip is under a LGPL license. Go to their site to find out more about 7-zip. Here are some of the features which might interest you:
- It compresses to both the zip format and the 7z format which is 30-70% better than the standard zip format.
- It allows you the same flexibility to split and merge files (as do Winrar and Winzip) but with better compression
- Allows you to password protect Archives.
- Create self extracting archive files to be sent out which means the end users dont need 7-zip or any other software for that matter to decompress your compressed files
- Create tar and gz archives for Linux and Unix
With all the above features and more, it compares up very well with the trialware programs Winzip and Winrar at no cost. Below is a price comparision with Winzip and Winrar:
WinZip (http://www.winzip.com)
Price: $29 (Evaluation Version Available)
OS Supported: 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/ Vista
WinRAR (http://www.rarlabs.com)
Price: $27 (Evaluation Version Available)
OS Supported: 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/ Vista
7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org)
Price: Free
OS Supported: 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/ Vista
With so many good features does it have something missing you ask me? Well the below mentioned things are the only ones I came across:
- Cannot repair damaged archives
- Cannot create a rar file (do we really need these)
So what are you waiting for? Why use software like Winrar and Winzip illegally even after their trial period is expired. Not only is it unethical and illegal it also nags you a lot to buy it. Why go through all this when you have a free alternative (which is going to remain free) which can do this and so much more. Jump to the 7-zip community.
Filed under: Freeware, Productivity, Utility Application | Tagged: winrar alternative, winzip alternative, zip
good job… nice find!! thanks
Hey Pranav,
Your blog has always brought some new and useful information to me. I really like reading your posts. Keep up the good work!
Nice post buddy..
You are right the screen on winzip nags a lot. And donot want to fall into cracking it hehehe
Nice find this! downloading it already
This is indeed a good find. If it can replace 2 softwares, that makes it much easier on me and on top of thta its free. You can’t beat that!!
Thanks.
Sahi Hai. its a great application
And you Know what.. I have been using it since last week. Its much better than winzip.
hey…
good job on dis blog..was actually looking for something to send some ridiculously large files… you’ve just done it for me!!!
thanks…
well done….
Hey……. vista does not support it!!!!
Actually Abraham 7-zip works with Vista…Thanks for that …updated the same..
As usual its brilliant!!!!
Keep educating me
Nice find … Can you let me know is it resource hungry?
It isnt resource hungry per se but at highest compression levels it seems to eat up resources for some systems..but with most of the dual core systems today I dont think even that would be a problem….
software seems to work pretty nicely… but seriosuly .. using a cracked software is so much fun than a free one
Hey nice info!! Thanks for this