.rar and .zip

[Shan]

I was reading Elliot's post in the Now Playing thread and he menitoned .rar
and the proper .zip files which brough this question to mind.

Elliot -> Why do you feel the way you do, because I am assuming that you
feel .zip is better than .rar?

Others -> Which do the rest of you prefer and why?

As for me I have used WinRAR for sometime now and have been pleased
with it. At the time I switched from WinZip I was downloading mods for
Bioware's NWN and people were using WinRAR to compress them. I
don't remember for sure, but I don't think my WinZip would work with
them.

Is there something that I don't know about or something that I should know
about WinRAR?

Shan

[Elliot Kane]

Shan...

I think it is deeply unhelpful for anyone to try to come up with an alternate compacting program to .zip that is completely incompatible with .zip, simply because it makes life harder for everyone.

As things stood, with a standardised format that everyone was using, anyone who wanted to send files to someone else could do so safely in the knowledge that everyone was using the same format so there would be no problems.

Then .rar came along, which is not only incompatible with .zip but also requires you to buy the program or constantly download new trial versions, which is a chore.

If .rar was compatible with .zip and either type could unlock the other, I'd wish them all the best and good luck. As things stand, they are simply an annoying pain.

Hope this makes my position clearer

[Gray Lensman]

I don't think it's an either/or thing with me, Shan. Generally, I will use more than one program, and use whichever best suits my needs at the time.

I am mostly a .zip person for the most part. I used it for a long time because I never needed .rar much if at all. So for the most part, it was my format of choice.

I only even downloaded .rar to open some BG2 mods. Primarily Saerileth, which I'm really enjoying right now. A lot of the Chosen Of Mystra mods are packed in .rar, so I broke down and picked up WinRAR.

So if I need, .rar, I use WinRAR. If I need .zip, I'll use my normal unizipper. It's all based on need, really.

[Shan]

Do either of you know whether one compresses better than the other?

Also I was under the impression that you had to buy WinZip also. Is this
true or false?

Shan

[Elliot Kane]

There are plenty of free .zip programs, so no, you don't have to buy WinZip

I honestly have NO idea if either compression format is better. As there is a limit to the amount how much ANY file can be compressed, I doubt there is much if any difference.

[philster]

Never even seen a .rar file. Saw a whole lot of .zip files, however!

[Dark Phoenix Rising]

I personally am prepared to use any application that I can easily download.

as for what compression programs (file extentions) I have heard of...

Tar,
gz,
arj,
rar,
zip,
sit,
MIME (usually used in e-mails),
ACE,
ARC,
BH,
CAB,
JAR,
LHA,
LZH,
TGZ,
UUE,
WAR,
XXE,
Z,
and ZOO

And more than a few of these are older than zip, and, until recently, more widely used than zip, just not on the PC.

As for what I prefer, generally zip as most of the people I need to share the files with use windows xp, or already have winzip.

Elliot - the winrar program can already extract zip files, so if you switched to that there wouldn't be a problem...

[Elliot Kane]

THAT many??!! Ye gods!

I am SO glad I never had to deal with that lot...

[Tsel]

Elliot >

Get WinRAR.
It is sooooooooooooooo much easier to use
than WinZIP and is well worth its minuscule
asking price to buy it.

Tsel ;D

[Elliot Kane]

I actually use Zipzilla, which is free, incredibly easy to use, and ties in with Gozilla so that when I download something it automatically offers to unzip it for me