For quite some time now there haven’t been many free apps that could be said to rival or go up against the giant file zipping and compressing giant, WinZip. This is determined in the apps ability to compress or decompress files with substantial power and extraction speeds.
We believe we’ve found a completely free file compressor extractor app (alternative to WinZip) called ZipItFree.
Why ZipItFree?
Besides the fact that (as it states it in its name) this app is free there are no annoying and irritating registrations or fees to pay. As soon as you unzip a file you have full control of functions through a modern and stylish graphical user interface while also being able to enjoy the benefits of its speed as well.
Decompressing files is even easier (as it should be) then zipping them up. All you have to do is open your ZipItFree file and locate the extraction button and click it. Your extraction should instantly begin.
The method of file compression this app uses is many times referred to as the “Black Hole” by developers because of its extremely high compression ratios and mega-fast decompression.
Another reason this desktop app (compatible with Windows versions NT-Vista) can be placed at the top of fellow similar software is its ability to utilize ZipV2 encryption algorithms to archive contents within a zipped file. This has been classified as over 100 times more secure than AES encryption algorithms (used by several un-zipping apps).
Our Journey Ends
ZipItFree handles several different formats with ease and allows you to leave comments on your archives describing what that specific archive contains so that you don’t have to unzip every file every single time you may be searching for something.
A few things that could be fixed on this fairly new app would be the support of additional formats, for now ZipItFree can support a wide variation of files; however, it still does not support all formats. The only other con I came across is that although the encryption method is substantially strong, it still may not be enough for everyone. It would be a much stronger app if it were able to somehow allow app users to choose stronger and better encryption methods totally dependent on their needs.
Here are a few files that ZipItFree easily supports: ACE, ARC, BH, BZip, CAB, GZIP, JAR, LHA, RAR, TAR, UUE, XXE, ZIP, and Zoo.
What file compressor/extractor do you use? Let us know in comments.
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Uuh, you guys ever heard of 7-Zip? It’s been around since forever, and I thought that by now every ‘power user’ used either that or the non-free WinRAR.
I love 7-Zip and I’m definitely not going to switch it for any other archiver.
I don’t do archiving, only extracting, and for that 7-Zip is perfect.
I have to agree the opening paragraph of this article is designed for impact but sadly has no bearing in fact.
Winrar knocks the spots off Winzip IMV with my personal choice 7-zip a very close second, does anybody who has had a computer for longer than a fortnight actually use WinZip?
The key feature of a zipping app for me is the ability to work with it seamlessly through the explorer context menu, rarely do I want to see the apps interface, it should stay out of my way), winrar and 7-zip do a good job of this while the others that I have tried fail miserably.
Thank you for the comments. I’ve used 7-Zip before. It’s a pretty good app. I’d just say to try out a variety of zip programs and figure out which one caters best to your preferences and needs.
I too use 7-Zip and see no reason to change now….
I use IZArc which is completely free to use, no ads or anything (and the UI is just a little better than 7-Zip IMO.)
I am the 5th 7-Zip user and find it quite adequate for my needs. I could not, at first, understand what you were up to saying WinZip is the only great app when there are quite a few powerful free or open source programs.
With WinRAR (non-free) probably being the best and 7-Zip close on its heels, here I am firing away a few other free ones – the first 5 are the greats: PeaZip, IZArc, TUGZip, Filzip, ZipGenius Standard Edition, KGB Archiver, Quick Zip, CAM UnZip, ZipWiz 2005 5.0, JustZIPit, AutoUnpack, RarMonkey, RarZilla Free Unrar, ExtractNow, The Extractor, WinShrink, ZipCentral, Free PDF Compressor, Zip Pro, TyphoonZip, jZip and DropZip 1.
Other ones which either produce excutibles, installer/uninstaller or self-extractor files are: Zip Self-Extractor Creator 1, Chilkat ZIP 2 Secure EXE 1.0 and ZipInstaller 1.21.
If I add file splitters/file joiners like Hj-Split, GSplit, or FFSJ — I should be able to split and archive my large files by breaking them up into self-extracting pieces.
7zip is nice, as is izarc but ive much preferred jzip as of lately, just a nice frontend for 7zip
I think this was a useless post and a waste of time to open it
I think you should have qualified your post with a little rationale but I wouldn’t be so rude to call it a waste of time :)
I too prefer IZArc, no annoying ads, looks better than 7-Zip; as I do archiving AND unarchiving, handles dozens of archive types, converts RAR to ZIP (and between several other types as well)…only thing missing is creating RAR archives (which RAR Labs has decreed ONLY THEIR PRODUCT CAN DO! – obnoxious!). Still haven’t found anything better IMHO.
Most importantly, 7-zip has the highest compression ratio…!
cool!
I didn’t know about either ZipItFree nor 7-zip (which I read about in the comments), both look good. So far I had used really crappy ones (or paid) to pack/unpack .TAR files, these two options come in handy :)
cheers!
That GUI looks horrible in my opinion.
No offense, but Winzip is dead. The only people I know who use WinZip are computer illiterate Pirates. (What I mean is that they do not pay for it, of course) Winzip has poor compression ratio, compared to 7zip’s 7z format. I don’t understand why would anyone pay for such a program, or even pirate such a program, when there are a lot of better, free programs available.
Here is a splendid comparison of archiving tools : http://www.donationcoder.com/Reviews/Archive/ArchiveTools/index.html
I use 7zip as well, not sure if it’s faster or has better compress ration than ZipItFree but it surely supports more file types.
I have been using peazip for years and found it more than adequate for my requirements
7-zip is better, free, OSS, no ads, simple GUI, and powerful.
Yep go 7zip or even Bitser