Software: WinRAR (the new compression standard?)

The ZIP file format has been the unchallenged defacto standard for what seems like more then a decade. It was so popular that Microsoft put support for it in to Windows XP operating system.

Now there is a relatively new format called RAR, that is challenging the old guard. What makes RAR more popular is that it has 8 to 15% better compression then the older ZIP format. It also has multi-platform support (i.e.: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, BSD, and DOS).

WinRAR is a Windows program used for managing your RAR and other archive file types. WinRAR is a commercial program that cost $29 for a single license. Although unRAR is a free program that can be use to decompress RAR files.

Below is a list of some of WinRAR features:

• Beside the RAR archives file, it can unpack: CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, 7Z, Z.
• Offers a graphical and command line interface.
• Supports 128-bits AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption.
• Support files and archives up to 8,589 billion gigabytes in size.
• Supports self-extracting and multi-volume archives.
• Plus more.