New WinZip has better compression, encryption

By FRANCIS TILL

Compression utilities serve a number of functions, the most basic of which is making files smaller (zipping them) for archiving and sharing purposes.

There are hundreds of tools available that do this, but one tool has been the standard choice for so long its name has come to define the process: WinZip.

WinZip's newest iteration, version 9.0, retains all the features that have made it the world's most popular compression tool and adds some significant features as well.

Top among these are increased compression and strong encryption, as well as the ability to include an unlimited number of files in a single zipped package.

The familiar Wizard interface is mostly unchanged and continues to provide the ease-of-use benchmark, especially for casual users.

The "power user" classic interface also retains the same look, but with new functions on the toolbar and in dropdown menus.

Close integration with Explorer means that hovering a cursor over a zipped file will pop a "tool tip" up that identifies up to 25 of the files in the zipped package.

It also means that right-click context menus allow users to instantly access many of the tool's more commonly used functions, such as zipping and emailing files.

In the past, only 65,535 files would fit into a single zip file and no zip file could be larger than 4 gigabytes. With version 9, there's no limit on either count - your machine sets the limits. That means, among other things, an entire hard drive can be zipped (even by drag and drop) for external backup.

Zipped files can be chopped into chunks, as well, so a very large file can be spread over several DVDs or CDs.

WinZip 9 includes an advanced compression option, the "enhanced deflate" compression method.

WinZip Computing says using the method will compress many files more efficiently than previous versions have done.

That's clearly the case in most cases.

It doesn't change the fact, however, that compression rates vary a great deal by the type of file involved: some files can be collapsed to a fraction of their size, especially for archiving, while others will shrink very little, regardless of the compression tool.

A mixed file 5.22 MB folder taking up 7.37 MB of space on the computer compressed to 4.96 MB using WinZip's "enhanced deflate" option. That means the folder of files became 0.26 MB smaller, and that it took up 2.74 MB less space on the disk.

Of the 204 files in that folder, about half were HTML and half GIF format images. A 1.28 MB folder, with 56 Word documents in it, however, took up 1.60 MB on the disk before compression. Using the "enhanced deflation" option, the folder compressed to 254 KB in actual size and took up only 256 KB on the disk, a massive reduction in size both ways.

But perhaps the best benefit of the new WinZip is advanced encryption. With a mouse click, files can be encrypted against snoops to an almost unbreakable degree, allowing users the same level of privacy that governments enjoy when guarding nuclear secrets and the like. If the police come looking for you they can demand your passwords, but short of that, your WinZip encrypted files will be meaningless to anyone but you and those with whom you authorise sharing.

WinZip 9.0

Price: US$30

Herald Rating: 9/10

Pros: The standard, both in business and at home. WinZip9 installs for all a computer's users at once and is profoundly compatible with Windows products. Easy to install, simple to use, good compression, three great encryption level options, includes basic "make executable" feature for creation of self-extracting files anyone can open. Free upgrade for registered users of earlier versions.

Cons: The strong encryption option is so new that only other WinZip 9 users are likely to be able to decrypt encrypted files. A wallet denter, given the exchange rate.