WinZip 8.1

The main advantage of WinZip is that it works faster than other zip utilities. It does offer improved integration with Windows, runs and looks great on Windows platform, and it lets you split large archives into smaller chunks so that you can store or e-mail them more easily.

WinZip 8.1 has some nifty new features. It allows you to create self-extracting archives, or files that recipients can decompress without a separate application. Another benefit is that you can also protect zipped files with passwords. Also, it streamlines e-mail archives by automatically opening your e-mail client after you zip a bunch of files, and temporarily unzips a document for editing without opening the archive with WinZip.

WinZip gives a choice of two interfaces, Wizard and Classic. The Classic interface presents files in the traditional Windows application display, with a toolbar, menus, and a preview panel that also shows the contents of a compressed file so the user can overview the contents of an archive. The Wizard's interface is more user friendly. Simply choose a task - zip files, unzip archives, or add files to existing archives - and WinZip will perform all the work for you.

WinZip also supports archives in formats other than the standard ZIP file format like TAR, GZIP, MIME, and CAB archives. WinZip can handle older archive formats, such as ARC, ARJ, and LHZ, but only if you download and install helper applications. A newer version of WinZip is available for downloading at the developer's site.