Top 5 Compression Utilities

Move beyond your bundled software with one of these backup utilities.

Danny Allen

Wednesday, December 27, 2006, 02:00 PM PST

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	Rank	Name	PCW Rating
PIDs
	1 BEST BUY	ConeXware PowerArchiver 2006 (9.63) • Price when rated: $20 • Compressed test-file size: 87% • Compression speed: Very Good • Ease of archive creation: Very Good • Ease of archive extraction: Superior • PCW Rating: 83 Very Good • Download Vendor's Web Site Versatile, easy-to-use app provides numerous archive formats and encryption support, plus a range of useful, integrated tools. (Last Rated: January 18, 2007) Full Review • Test Report
	2	M.Dev Software ZipGenius 6 Standard Edition • Price when rated: Free • Compressed test-file size: 88% • Compression speed: Poor • Ease of archive creation: Good • Ease of archive extraction: Superior • PCW Rating: 81 Very Good • Download Vendor's Web Site This free alternative generally competes well against its commercial competition. (Last Rated: January 18, 2007) Full Review • Test Report
	3	Smith Micro Software StuffIt Standard 9.5 • Price when rated: $25 • Compressed test-file size: 89% • Compression speed: Superior • Ease of archive creation: Good • Ease of archive extraction: Very Good • PCW Rating: 79 Good • Download Vendor's Web Site StuffIt delivers strong archive management and encryption options, but suffers from a few usability annoyances. (Last Rated: January 18, 2007) Full Review • Test Report

	4	RARLAB WinRAR 3.61 • Price when rated: $29 • Compressed test-file size: 89% • Compression speed: Very Good • Ease of archive creation: Very Good • Ease of archive extraction: Superior • PCW Rating: 76 Good • Download Vendor's Web Site WinRAR is the only program capable of creating RAR files. It boasts powerful automation and command-line tools. (Last Rated: January 18, 2007) Full Review • Test Report
	5	WinZip Computing WinZip 11 (standard) • Price when rated: $30 • Compressed test-file size: 86% • Compression speed: Poor • Ease of archive creation: Good • Ease of archive extraction: Superior • PCW Rating: 74 Good • Download WinZip 11 retains a familiar interface but lacks some advanced tools. Its strongest ZIP compression option can't be extracted by any program except WinZip 10 or 11. (Last Rated: January 18, 2007) Full Review • Test Report

Use the Check Boxes to see a Side-by-Side Comparison

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