Though Microsoft may have built basic .zip support into Windows, dedicated compression programs continue to offer compelling features such as backup scheduling, FTP support, and archive searching.
Contrary to popular belief, compression software usually isn't free. Many applications will work beyond an initial 30- to 45-day trial period, but you are honor-bound to buy the program to keep using it.
We looked at the standard versions of six major compression utilities, taking into consideration each program's ease of use, reliability, features, price, and documentation. We also used 500MB of test data (office documents, photos, and multimedia files, some of which were already compressed and were difficult to compress further) to test each app's archive-creation prowess at its maximum compression settings.
After a thorough comparison, we crowned the $20 PowerArchiver 2006 our Best Buy. In addition to offering solid compression, it provides several handy tools, including automatic backups and FTP capability. The software can create a variety of archive types, but it used the .7z format for maximum compression. (The .7z format was originally developed for the open-source 7-Zip program, an app that failed to make our chart.)
The $30 WinZip 11 achieved the best results in our tests, though the performance differences between all of the apps were modest. WinZip squashed our 500MB of test files down to 86 percent of their original size. However, its strongest compression option, .zip, can't be extracted by any program except WinZip 10 or 11. Though WinZip 11 enables users to preview images in an archive, only the $50 Pro version provides FTP, command-line, and automated backup tools.
The third-place $25 StuffIt Standard 9.5 also includes FTP and archive-search tools, but only its $40 Deluxe version offers automated backups and Microsoft Office integration. To extract its strongest compression format, .sitx, non-StuffIt users must employ the free StuffIt Expander software.
If your format of choice is .rar, then the powerful $29 WinRAR 3.61, ranked fourth, remains your only option.
Read the February 2007 Top Compression Software chart.
Danny Allen