WinZip

Type of Program: Archive/Compression
Supported Platforms: Windows 98/NT/2000/Me/XP
Company Name: WinZip Computing Inc
Version: 9.0 SR-1
Price: $29
Installed Size: 4.99 Mb

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Well who would have thought that the best could get better? At the WinZip company they never rest on their laurels. This is a major upgrade from version 7.0. The upgrade cost still remains the same, nothing. I think WinZip was the first program I registered more than 5 years ago now, and they have not yet asked for an upgrade fee. What a Deal!!

OK, here is what you are getting for your $29. You are getting a program that is always on the cutting edge of technology as far as compression is concerned. With WinZip you can work with most compressed files, the types with built in support are zip, TAR, gzip, UUencode, XXencode, BinHex, and MIME. Supported vi external programs are ARJ, LZH, and ARC.

OK lets get down to the Nits and Gritties. The installation of WinZip is very easy you can put it anywhere you prefer. After the installation you are asked which interface you want to open when you start WinZip, either the Classic or The Wizard. If you are new to WinZip or to compression you probably will want to start with the Wizard. If you start with the Wizard, the first time you will get led through a number of options, like where are your favorite zip folders. The easy way is to let WinZip find them for you. After that you get 3 choices, either Open or install from an existing Zip file, Update an existing Zip file, or Create a new Zip file. Pick one and let WinZip do it's thing. I won't go through all ways it deals with these options, suffice it to say, WinZip does it all intuitively.

In case you haven't kept track, or you still are hesitating for the "Right" moment to buy WinZip, here are some of the new features:
The new Zip and E-Mail feature zips a document and attaches it to an e-mail message without leaving Explorer. The Wizard can now create and update Zip files, as well as extract and install from MIME and similar encoded files (great for e-mail attachments).
The Wizard has been really changed a bunch, here are some new features: The Wizard now supports automatic installation of desktop themes and screen savers. The select activity feature (the 3 choices mentioned above) is also new.

The Classic interface has changed too. First of all it is more "Explorer" like. When you click the right mouse button on a file in the archive contents list, the context menu now displays any associated actions for the type of file selected. For example, right-clicking on a .DOC file (Microsoft Word document) might display "Open", "Print", and "New". As in Explorer, hold down the Shift key while clicking the right mouse button to add an "Open With ..." choice to the menu. This menu item allows you to choose the application you wish to use to open the selected file. 
Inclusion of subfolders when adding, updating, etc., is now automatic and mirrors Explorer's treatment of subfolders. You no longer have to check the "Include subfolders" checkbox; instead, WinZip determines when to include subfolders using the same logic that Explorer does.

About support, I imagine you are like me, you want to deal with a company that takes care of you. I emailed those WinZip people on a Sunday night late, with a support question, and when I got up on Monday morning the answer was awaiting me.

Oh, yeh, did I mention that it tightly integrates with the internet, and you can automatically check downloaded files for viruses with it (you must already have a anti-virus program).

Listen, that is just the tip of the iceberger. Take my word for it WinZip is still hands down the best archive/compression program there is. So, you might as well shell out the $29 you are going to be dealing with compression for a long time and these are the people who deal with it best.

P.S. The new animations are cute too..

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Reviewed by Joe Tex

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