WinRAR

WinRAR isn’t exactly the best looking piece of software on the block, but WinRAR and the RAR file archive is taking file compression by storm and possibly giving the more popular ZIP format a run for its money. Unlike WinZip, WinRAR can compress RAR and ZIP files with ease. Additionally, it supports extraction for 13 other archive types.

Keeping WinRAR out of our top spot are some missing features, like full integration with Outlook, and its user friendliness. Although WinRAR has most of the same interface options as WinZip, like drag and drop and ZIP Wizard, it is obvious WinRAR is designed for users with a little more background in computers. However, the archive Wizard is particularly helpful and easy to use.

WinRAR also has PocketRAR, a mobile phone application for Windows based cell phones and a command line interface for MacOS X and Linux computers.

We can’t say that there is anything particularly impressing about WinRAR’s basic features. Like most file compression programs, WinRAR includes the ability to create self-extracting files, split archives into multiple volumes and repair damaged files. A couple of our favorite WinRAR features are the ability convert archives from ZIP to RAR and vice versa and that fact that WinRAR can scan your archives for viruses before you extract the files.

WinRAR is fully functional in Windows Explorer. We really like that you can pack or unpack an archive using your right-click control. We were surprised to find that you can compress and email a folder using Windows Explorer, but there isn’t an option to email an archive or compress and email directly within the application.
Some unique features include automatically detecting the type of files you are compressing and adjusting the compression rate accordingly. WinRAR will also help you organize your compressed archives. WinRAR was the only of two file compression programs we reviewed that included a built-in virus scanner.
Although WinRAR’s overall feature set doesn’t include many bells and whistles, it does give experienced users a considerable amount of control in the Settings menu. Using the Settings menu, you can change which files WinRAR is associated with, where your default paths go, show comments and more. It seems that WinRAR gives the user a considerable amount of control over their compression. However, these are mostly advanced features and the average user will probably never need to fiddle with these settings.
Although you can see the ratio of your compressed files by selecting the “show information” option in the “tools” portion of the menu, it would have been just slightly more convenient if you could default that bar to display after each archive is packed.
Some features we would like to see WinRAR include in the future, is integration with Outlook to email archives within the application and the ability to batch convert or extract archives without using Windows Explorer. You can batch convert using hotkeys (shift or ctrl) as long as the files you are compressing or extracting are in the same folders.

WinRAR is a very popular program among those who need an archive alternative to ZIP. Although we found the file compression program to be a little more difficult to use than competitors WinZip and ALZip, WinRAR is arguably a more powerful program and better suited for power-users. However, once you take a few minutes to get acquainted with the software, you’ll find it’s not as scary as it seems.

Source: http://file-compression-software-review.toptenreviews.com/winrar-review.html