The compression algorithm has not been released as open-source, and remains restricted from reverse engineering. RAR is almost as old as zip, but isn't quite as open. It's a grandpa, but a grandpa who still goes to raves.

One could do a lot worse than to rely on zip as the compression and archiving file format of choice. The standard now supports strong encryption and other file compression algorithms with even smaller final file sizes. Zip has been evolved and been developed over the decades into something far beyond the original simple file-deflator. The first implementation was in a utility called PKzip, but zip has since been embraced, extended, adapted, and repackaged by almost all other vendors after being released into public domain. It was created in 1989 by engineer Phil Katz. Zip is familiar to almost anyone who's touched a computer in the last 30 years or so. That's because the RAR format itself is not freeware. At that point, you'll need to register to continue using it. You can download WinRAR for a free 40-day full-featured trail. This makes it a favorite of systems admins everywhere as they leverage WinRAR for scripting and automation.Īll this goodness is cheap, but not free. Password protection and encryption using an AES 256-bit key all come standard, as does a command line giving access to tall the major features available in the GUI.

The only limitation appears to be formats, since WinRAR still only compresses in the Zip and RAR formats.īut honestly, what more are you likely to need? An untold number of questionable downloads (and uploads) have been processed through this venerable file compression and archive utility since its debut in 1993. A whole generation (perhaps two generations) of Windows users have grown up with WinRAR.

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