7-Zip is a highly-rated free compression utility. It handles more compression types than WinZip, compresses files slightly better, on average, than WinZip, and works on just about any OS you can find. The downside is that 7-Zip lacks some of WinZip's advanced features (such as the ability to repair corrupted files) and, to me, isn't as easy to navigate/use. If I had to choose between the two, I'd take 7-Zip for the price, but WinZip if it were also free.
I'll note, though, that I don't use either. I unzip files daily that I've downloaded or otherwise been given, but find that I rarely need a compression utility. (Maybe a couple times a year I actually use one.) As a result, I go for something simple, fast, and cheap. Based on those qualifications, there's nothing better than ExtractNow. It supports over a dozen different formats (more than 7-Zip and WinZip combined), performs batch (multiple files at once) extraction/decompression, if faster than most other utilities, and is extremely easy to use. It may not create archives (it only extracts them), but it's one utility I couldn't live without.
Hope this helps,
John
I normally use Winzip for ZIP files but when I got my computer back yesterday there was a program installed called 7-Zip File Manager. Anyone had an opinion about this program? I played around with it and I like it alittle better then Winzip.
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