Once integrated users can right-click files and unpack them and create files as well using the main program interface. The user can choose between three options on how the progress is displayed for him. Two are graphical representations while one uses the command line. File checks can be performed as well displaying checksums / hash information of various algorithms which is great for verification purposes.

Peazip does have one problem though which makes it unusable for me. Peazip extracts selected archives at once. This means that if I select two archives they are unpacked at the same time which in turn means that the unpacking processes takes longer than in tools that unpack files after each other.

A quick benchmark with two rar archives had the result that PeaZip needed about twice as much time as IZarc to unpack those archives. Peazip was a little bit faster though when only one rar archive was unpacked.

Next to that it can also unpack files from installation packages, it would be no problem for instance to unpack Windows Installer Package files (msi) or unpack the latest Firefox release with the Universal Extractor. It does not make that much sense to use a program like Winrar if you never pack files yourself, a tool that would extract all the archives would be more than enough.

Universal Extractor adds menu entries to the right-click men. You can choose to extract files, extract the archive in the same directory and extract the archive into a sub-directory.

A unique feature is the manual rebuild functionality which lets you make all the changes you need to do to an archive before the archive itself is rebuild. If you are looking for a winzip alternative try muzip.

[tags]packer, unzip, winzip, muzip, winrar, compression, compress, backup[/tags]

7zip is an Open Source archiving software that handles all popular compression formats with bravura. It supports zip, rar, gz, its own format 7z as well as other popular formats on the unpacking side, and 7z as well as zip, gzip and a few other formats on the compression side of things.

The program integrates nicely into the computer. It is for instance possible to assign the file formats to 7-zip so that they are opened automatically with the application, or integrate commands into Windows Explorer’s context menu to create or unpack archives directly without opening the program interface first.

The integration is setup during program installation, and then accessible in the program options. Here it is possible to add or remove context menu entries or file associations.

The interface is minimalistic. The files of the current directory or archive are displayed in the program, along with the path to the file or folder, and controls at the top. Files can be dragged and dropped from the interface, to either add them to an archive or unpack them from an archive.

The controls are used to add or extract contents with the built-in file browser. There are also options to test archives, to delete files or copy and move them. It is alternatively possible to right-click and use the context menu to perform the operations.

The software supports keyboards to perform operations faster. It is for instance possible to create favorite folder shortcuts to open those folders directly in the 7-zip program, or perform actions like copying or extracting files with the help of these shortcuts.

7-zip is one of the best free packers for the Windows operating system. It is feature rich and compatible with all popular archiving formats.

Head over to 7-zip.org do download this excellent freeware.