http://www.izarc.org
It still seems to be a little-known fact that WinZip is not, nor has ever been, freeware. This misinformation is so prevalent that WinZip itself has posted a notice (look for "did you think winzip was free?") on their website stating otherwise. This being the case, many companies still have it installed as part of their standard Operating System build. During my travels, I still see it installed on many a PC, well beyond the 45 day trial that it was initially intended for.
What about 7Zip, isn't that a good archiving tool?
While yes, I agree it is an excellent tool, I don't think it is as user-friendly as IZ-Arc (but others will disagree). When fellow blogger Carputers mentioned IZArc, I had to take a closer look!
Interface
WinZip 11 Interface (folder pane turned on):
IZArc interface (again, folder pane enabled):
Note that there is a button on the WinZip interface for encrypting the archive. IZArc features this in a drop-down menu under 'Tools'. Drag & drop are supported on both programs.
Both have a very similar look, so transitioning users from WinZip to IZArc shouldn't be too hard.
Associations
This is where IZArc shines, and makes it a no-brainer to use it instead of WinZip for me...Take a quick look at the extensions supported by WinZip:
I counted 23 extensions supported by WinZip 11.
WinZip supports arc, arj, b64, bhx, bz, bz2, cab, gz, hqx, lzh, mim, rar, tar, taz, tbz, tbz2, tgz, tz, uu, uue, xxe, z, and zip formats.
While in its own right, 23 (output formats: 1...???) supported readable archival formats is nothing to sneeze at. This is still substantially less than the 57 readable formats which IZArc can support (output formats: 11)!
In addition, a few of these readable formats are CD/DVD disc image files (such as ISO, NRG, BIN, etc.)! Which means you can open and extract files from disc images without burning them first!
IZArc's supported readable formats (there's actually a 3rd column listed which you can't see here):
IZArc supports 7-zip, a, ace, arc, arj, b64, bh, bin, bz2, bza, c2d, cdi, cab, cpio, deb, enc, gca, gz, gza, ha, img, iso, jar, lha, lib, lzh, mbf, mdf, mim, nrg, pak, pdi, pk3, rar, rpm, tar, taz, tbz, tgz, tz, uue, war, xxe, yz1, z, zip, and zoo formats. Nice, huh?
IZArc also features the ability to create self-extracting executables and multi-volumed files. Finally, IZArc also sports a command-line add-in, for those of you who are supporting automated or scripted archiving.
What doesn't IZArc have?
Summary
So, while WinZip is an awesome paid program, you cannot deny the power of IZArc. If you need something to unzip a huge variety of archived files, while at the same time retaining the ability to encrypt any newly created files, then IZArc is the solution for you. You can't beat this for free!
IZArc's website features support forums, skin downloads(!), Tutorials, and much, much more! If you have some spare change, please donate to this excellent product to keep it running!
Alternates:
It still seems to be a little-known fact that WinZip is not, nor has ever been, freeware. This misinformation is so prevalent that WinZip itself has posted a notice (look for "did you think winzip was free?") on their website stating otherwise. This being the case, many companies still have it installed as part of their standard Operating System build. During my travels, I still see it installed on many a PC, well beyond the 45 day trial that it was initially intended for. At my last job, I was able to successfully deploy EnZip (overcoming the mental barriers brought up when suggesting something other than *gasp!* WinZip), chosen because it was easy to use, and it had a self-extracting executable feature built-in. EnZip had always run pretty well on Windows 2000 & XP stations, with a minor annoyance where a toolbar might disappear from time to time. However, it has now been 7 years since the last version of EnZip (who knows where the author went?), and I wanted to locate a new freeware alternative to WinZip which was still in current development.
What about 7Zip, isn't that a good archiving tool?
While yes, I agree it is an excellent tool, I don't think it is as user-friendly as IZ-Arc (but others will disagree). When fellow blogger Carputers mentioned IZArc, I had to take a closer look!
Interface
WinZip 11 Interface (folder pane turned on):
IZArc interface (again, folder pane enabled):
Note that there is a button on the WinZip interface for encrypting the archive. IZArc features this in a drop-down menu under 'Tools'. Drag & drop are supported on both programs.Both have a very similar look, so transitioning users from WinZip to IZArc shouldn't be too hard.
Associations
This is where IZArc shines, and makes it a no-brainer to use it instead of WinZip for me...Take a quick look at the extensions supported by WinZip:
I counted 23 extensions supported by WinZip 11.WinZip supports arc, arj, b64, bhx, bz, bz2, cab, gz, hqx, lzh, mim, rar, tar, taz, tbz, tbz2, tgz, tz, uu, uue, xxe, z, and zip formats.
While in its own right, 23 (output formats: 1...???) supported readable archival formats is nothing to sneeze at. This is still substantially less than the 57 readable formats which IZArc can support (output formats: 11)!
In addition, a few of these readable formats are CD/DVD disc image files (such as ISO, NRG, BIN, etc.)! Which means you can open and extract files from disc images without burning them first!
IZArc's supported readable formats (there's actually a 3rd column listed which you can't see here):
IZArc supports 7-zip, a, ace, arc, arj, b64, bh, bin, bz2, bza, c2d, cdi, cab, cpio, deb, enc, gca, gz, gza, ha, img, iso, jar, lha, lib, lzh, mbf, mdf, mim, nrg, pak, pdi, pk3, rar, rpm, tar, taz, tbz, tgz, tz, uue, war, xxe, yz1, z, zip, and zoo formats. Nice, huh?
IZArc also features the ability to create self-extracting executables and multi-volumed files. Finally, IZArc also sports a command-line add-in, for those of you who are supporting automated or scripted archiving.
What doesn't IZArc have?
Now, I will say that WinZip does have a few features that IZArc does not. WinZip has the ability to view pictures inline while you are browsing the Zip file, which I find to be quite nice. Also, it allows you to upload your archive via FTP. WZ can burn archives directly to CD/DVD. Finally, it has an additional option which allows it to plug directly into Outlook, giving users the ability to archive their attachments quickly before emailing a person with a large file.
Summary
So, while WinZip is an awesome paid program, you cannot deny the power of IZArc. If you need something to unzip a huge variety of archived files, while at the same time retaining the ability to encrypt any newly created files, then IZArc is the solution for you. You can't beat this for free!
IZArc's website features support forums, skin downloads(!), Tutorials, and much, much more! If you have some spare change, please donate to this excellent product to keep it running!
Alternates:
- 7-Zip
- EnZip 3.0
- Universal Extractor
- Zipeg (added October 25th, 2007)
3 comments:
I feel the love, bro - thanks for the tribute.
Here's another one you can try. Next time you need to burn a CD, download InfraRecorder and try it.
http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/
I've been meaning to try that out...I'm sure I'll be impressed with that title as well...
Later man!
Rob
IzArc 3.8 and IzArcToGo 3.8 (portable app) were released today.
The biggest change is Vista compatibility...
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