rar

RAR Expander is a free utility for expanding archive files with the .rar format (typically received from PC users). The Mac OS used to come bundled with software that could expand .rar files, but now you need to install a separate program--such as RAR Expander--if you need to work with them.

RAR Expander doesn't have a particularly pretty interface, but it expands files quickly and reliably. All you have to do is choose Expand from the app's File menu (which is the only command in the app's File menu), browse to find the .rar archive that you … Read more

Photo RAR for WinRAR is a JPEG compression utility that allows users to control the parameters of the compression, including selective compression of particular portions of an image. Although the program looks nice at first glance, using it is at times unintuitive and unnecessarily complicated.

The program's interface is somewhat cluttered, yet it has certain a sleekness that may lead users to think that they are dealing with a well-designed program. This is not necessarily the case, though. Upon closer inspection we noticed that certain tools did not even fit completely within the interface, and there was no way … Read more

UnRarX is a simple freeware utility for expanding .rar archive files and restoring corrupted archives with .par and .par2 files. The Mac OS no longer includes software for unpacking .rar files, so if you want to expand these kinds of files (usually from PC users), you'll need to download some sort of unarchiving app to do so.

UnRarX has a fairly crude interface--a single log window with options to test, browse, extract, or enter a password for protected archives--but its drag-and-drop simplicity and high success rate have made it a popular choice for users who want a reliable, bare-bones … Read more

With version 14 of this venerable archiving tool, WinZip aims specifically at Windows 7 compliance and enhancements, and adds a few other new features, too. WinZip in Windows 7 gets extensive support for libraries, tools, and recent archives in the jumplist, previews in Windows Explorer for certain file types, and basic touch-screen support. Multitouch support is limited to rotating pictures previewed from WinZip archives.

WinZip 14 also includes minor security enhancements. New automatic wiping keeps confidential data secret by "shredding" the temporary file that WinZip creates by default whenever it opens an archive. The shredding uses U.S. … Read more

RarMonkey is a simple RAR archive utility that offers little to recommend it over a standard RAR tool.

Every developer who works with RAR archives undoubtedly already owns a utility that both compresses and extracts in this format. Such utilities typically offer Windows shell integration, drag and drop for files, and file association--as does RarMonkey. Most offer a Help file, and RarMonkey does, too. Many support automatically extracting multiple archives to multiple folders, as does RarMonkey. In fact, RarMonkey is just like every other RAR utility out there.

RarMonkey's one innovation appears to be the capability to use one … Read more

This free backup program lets you create and schedule backups using WinRAR. We were unable to get its promised drag-and-drop functionality to work, but it still proved to be a worthy backup program.

BackUp for WinRAR's main user interface is pretty self-explanatory, although we had to hover our mouse over a few of the toolbar commands buttons to learn their function. The program already includes a preset for backing up your registry. But creating a new preset task was not as intuitive as the rest of the program and required a visit to the Help menu. All of our … Read more

A new interface kicks off TurboZip 8, a reliable compression alternative to WinZip. The easy-to-use archiving tool now supports an even wider range of formats, including 7Z, MS Office 2007 archives, ISO, and BZIP. Two new features make it worth considering: the robust preview feature that makes peering into archived files much simpler, and the Auto Compress Script, which allows you to build new archives based on predetermined criteria.

The preview window can show the contents of not just JPEG and DOC files, but MSI, EXE, and others. It's also blazingly fast, and previewed large files without delay. A … Read more

When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks suspiciously like a nail. RarZilla is a great little utility for automatically "unraring" RAR archives, but it's incompatible with any other archive format. Depending on what you're looking for, the program--which is also available in a portable version--is either just the tool you need or woefully inadequate.

The program does a wonderful job of unzipping--sorry, unraring--RARs, and it provides three methods for achieving that lofty goal. You can select the "RarZilla!" option from the context menu associated with any RAR file in … Read more

It's easy for Windows users to forget that WinZip isn't the only file-compression utility in the world, nor is WinRAR its only replacement. Like its better-known competitors, the free 7-Zip unpacks a host of archive formats, including ZIP, TAR, GZ, and its own 7Z format. Unlike the competition, though, it can create TAR and GZ archives, which are commonly used on Unix and Linux systems. Even though it's small, there's an even smaller portable version, too.

The program's ability to shrink files was stunning. 7Z archives tested up to 40 percent smaller then their ZIP … Read more