IZArc has its popularity share already, it supports many formats and CD image files. And, about the approaching a traditional “bad” part: a lot of declared features are available only through connection to Internet.
HaoZip has custom skin support which you can enjoy to the full, only if you are connected to Internet though.
The archiver has a built-in image viewer and image converter which means you don’t need any image-viewing software on your computer to see images in archives.
It supports compression into 7z, zip and tar formats, decompresses archives of practically all popular formats. Whether it’s true or not, HaoZip indeed copes with all basic archiving functions. So now it’s kind of expanding its market. HaoZip archiver never gets tired of telling everyone about its enormous popularity in China. FreeArc’s weakness lies within its really poor design and interface in general. Unfortunately the archiver’s market is too real to be a fairy tale. So practically FreeArc could be almost perfect. The program can also choose files by their size, time of creation, name and attributes. It can test archives before and after any operation which saves your time significantly. Software authors proudly talk of their smart file sorting technology which they call a key success of FreeArc’s high speed. FreeArc doesn’t yield to none of its competitors in speed or efficiency. FreeArc (Windows and Linux)įreeArc is an open source project distributed under GNU General Public License. They can choose practically everything if they are familiar with terminology. For example, users can manually choose to use multi-core processor function to increase compression speed on their own. However if you are the one who knows exactly what he wants from software you will appreciate BandiZIP benevolent intentions towards better customization.
BandiZIP unpacks around 30 file formats.įollowing the pace of 7zip its Settings window is stuffed with checkboxes and tabs which offer you lots of choice, which may seem that it’s making you think too much. This means you can carry BandiZIP along on any portable device and use it on any computer without prior installation.
BandiZIP (Windows, Mac OS)īandiZIP is quite popular among free software admirers and unlike most other compression utilities it offers a nice portable version of its archiver. The “cons” part is that B1 can create archives only in ZIP and B1 formats, which is enough for most users though. Its high speed is achieved due to “Smart” compression mode which chooses the best method of compression for each piece of data depending on its type. B1 has localizations for most popular languages. Unlike its preceding colleague, it has an exceptionally friendly user interface and is very handy – most actions are performed in 2-3 clicks. It works with the most popular formats as well as with its own B1 format. B1 pleases us with its online archiver which quickly unpacks your files and automatically deletes them in an hour in case you forget to do it yourself.
B1 Free Archiver (Windows, Linux, Mac and Android)ī1 Free Archiver is a relatively new piece on a great checkerboard of free archivers but continues to make its way towards checkmate, especially with its Android version. So if you really don’t want nothing more from software but just a 1-minute interaction from time to time – prepare to fight. However, 7zip has one very noticeable drawback – its interface looks like some crazy programmer’s paradise. Geeky lads will appreciate plugins for Total Commander and FAR Manager.
Such an archive unpacks automatically as soon as you click it. With the help of this tool you can create self-extracting archives – just pack files and you are free to send them even to someone who doesn’t have any compression software installed on his computer. 7zip supports most popular formats (like ZIP, 7z, RAR, GZIP, TAR) and has proved itself to to be fast and effective. 7-Zip (Windows)ħzip remains one of the most prominent compression tools which stepped on a thorny path of being a free compression software for everyone. So in the name of sanity and good sense, I’ve come up with an overview of top 10 free archivers with all their pros and cons. No matter how rich you are and how often you light a cigar with a banknote, it is still a sheer waste of money to pay for commercial archivers if there are plenty of free tools on the market which will do the job for you. Compressed files are easier to share, irrespective of the sharing medium. After that you will have no choice but to resort to using an archiver.
Because as soon as you open your email and decide to send a batch of files you’ll realize that sending them as they are will require you to attach every file one by one. No matter how powerful your computer is and how much room there is on your hard drive, be sure you still need an archiver.