WinRAR proves less is definitely more when it comes to compression

By FRANCIS TILL

WinRAR is a compression/decompression utility that claims advantages over the more commonly used WinZip - the most important being that it makes smaller files.

In a test, a folder containing 130 mixed format files weighing a collective 2.59MB (megabytes) was compressed by WinRAR to 880KB (kilobytes) using its "solid archive" RAR format, to 927KB using its "best compression" option in the regular RAR format, and to 960KB in the ZIP format, the same size achieved with WinZip 8.

That means WinRAR's best effort "solid archive" 880KB format file was just over 9 per cent smaller than the WinZip file - so the company's claims it delivers between 8-15 per cent better compression than WinZip stacks up.

That may not sound like much of an advantage but don't be tricked by raw file sizes since most computers automatically alter files substantially - and even similar percentages mean different things in different contexts.

The computer stores that 1.07MB folder, for example, at 2.59MB. After WinRAR compression, the resulting 880KB RAR file also takes up 880KB on the computer, a saving of 190KB, or 18 per cent. WinZip's 960KB ZIP file takes up 949KB on the computer, a saving of 121KB, or only 11 per cent. Regaining the use of nearly 20 per cent of your hard drive by compressing files can be a big help.

What's being compressed also matters.

Word documents compress beautifully in WinRAR, which turned a 319KB Word (.doc) file into a 64KB RAR file. WinZip turned the same document into an 80KB ZIP file.

MP3 files, on the other hand, compress only fractionally in either format.

Digital image collections can also benefit from WinRAR, even though no compression tool works very well with the most common (JPEG/GIF) image formats. But BMP files, commonly produced by scanners and some digital cameras, compress much better in WinRAR than in ZIP format. A BMP image weighing 5.11MB compressed with the "best compression" option in WinRAR to 3.46MB, shrinking the file to 68 per cent of its original size. The corresponding ZIP file, however, was 4.3MB, or 84 per cent of the original.

WinRAR can compress files into either the ZIP or RAR format, and it will open both (as well as a huge number of other archive formats). Very few other compression utilities will open RAR files so users should not expect to be able to send them to anyone who does not have a utility that can open them. Neither of the most popular compression utilities, WinZip and FreeZip, for example, will open RAR files, but WinRAR comes preloaded with the option of inserting a self-extracting executable file that will let a WinRAR-free recipient open RAR documents.

When working with large collections, producing RAR files is a noticeably slower process than making ZIP files and many of WinRAR's advantages will be of interest only to mission-critical and other power users even though they're built into the price for everyone to share.

The Wizard interface, however, is more intuitive than WinZip's and is simple to use.

WinRAR comes with a 40-day free trial. After 20 days the interface begins a countdown and after 40 days it nags users to pay up. It costs US$29 ($44), the same price as WinZip.

NOTE: "Size" and "Size on disk" in the properties section of folders and files often show very different numbers. Contrary to what one might expect, the "size" value shows the space needed to store the data on the computer. "Size on disk" displays the actual size of the file.

WinRAR

WinRAR
and RARLAB

$US29 ($44), trial download 981KB.

Pros: Generates smaller files than WinZip, has simpler Wizard. Self-extraction executable makes it possible to send RAR files to other computers that don't have WinRAR installed. Good online and internal help.

Cons: Narrow user base limits the exportability of RAR files, especially since many anti-virus tools automatically quarantine files containing executables.

Rating: 7/10