Still using WinZip, WinRAR or some commercial archive? Try 7-Zip. It is opensource and free.
Do not be deceived by the name which may make it sounds like it is yet another Zip clone and only read zip file. 7-Zip introduces a new format called 7z and also supports ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB format.
The 7z format produces very good compression ratio. Compression ratio is the ratio of the difference between the compressed file size and the uncompressed file size to the uncompressed file size. I had been using 7-zip for a good few years now and the format consistently beat other format like zip (worst), rar or even tar.bz2.
The one drawback of 7z is that not many people know or use the format. So I cannot, for example, email a .7z file to a friend. My friend probably get an “Unknown file type” error. But this should change soon. Expect to see more programs supporting the 7z format. WinRAR already support it and so does a number of compression utilities.
7z format is licensed under the open source GNU Library General Public License (LGPL). What does this means? For one it means anyone can implement the format.
For another, it means no one can charge loyalty just for using the format.
Most people know the GIF graphic format. But what most people do not know is the the creator of the format once tried to charge royalties for producing file in the format.
What I like about 7-Zip?
- Support multiple formats, especially .tar.gz, .tar.bz2.
Now most compression software support it. Not so a few years back. Often I had to install separate program just to open unix files or I had to rename the extension. - Small and light. No fancy functions that I never use anyway.
- No trial period expired, no registration reminder, no delayed start up splash screen like other archivers.
For a long time 7-Zip does not have drag-n-drop functions but this was added as of version 4.23. So if you have try 7-Zip and drop it because of the lack of drag and drop, I urge you to try it again.
Chinese support
Simplified chinese version available at 7-Zip官方ä¸æ–‡é¦–页.
Where to get it?
- 7-Zip is at http://www.7-zip.org/
- Current version: 4.4.2
- Function: File archiver, file compression utility
Popularity: 16%
yeah, I’ve been using 7-zip at work, very nice tool. Unfortunately, it only extracts cab files, does not create them. But I’ve found a little linux commandline tool, ‘lcab’, that will do that for me.
What do you use cab file for? I only know that Windows installs are distributed in them.
We use them here at work in the TomTom HOME application for distributing content for the TomTom devices.
Interesting… What advantage do they have over other format?
I have no idea, the decision to use cab was taken elsewhere, I was just told to use it ;)
I’d actually prefer zip, but with the lcab utility (linux commandline) there is not really a big problem.