New Compression Utilities Push (Or Shrink) the Envelope PentaZip Supports 4GB Archives; StuffIt 7.0 Speeds Searches and FTP Uploads Eric Grevstad
Mon 10/22/01 -- Sure, Windows XP has ZIP file compression built in, but it's barely the basics. If you really want to create, distribute, and manage disk-space-saving, download-time-trimming file archives, Aladdin Systems Inc. and PentaWare Inc. have updated their power tools for frequent filers.
Aladdin's StuffIt 7.0 for Windows, priced at $30 with a $15 competitive upgrade offer for owners of other compression utilities, introduces new ArchiveSearch and StuffIt Express Personal Edition programs for users ranging from ZIP beginners to network managers. The latter offers one-click compression and FTP, automating the process of archiving files, logging onto an FTP server, uploading the data, and sending a custom notification e-mail with no knowledge of scripting or programming required.
ArchiveSearch lets StuffIt users quickly find files buried deep within archives, including searches over a network or with custom search criteria and wildcards. A self-extracting archive tool, file encryption for sensitive data, one-click compress and e-mail, and both ZIP and StuffIt support -- the latter, Aladdin says, packs large files about 20 percent more tightly -- are all included.
For its part, PentaWare's PentaZip 5.0 breaks the limitations of the 32-bit ZIP format by supporting multifile/multifolder compressed archives larger than 4GB, using a new ZGB format. The utility also supports ZIP, ZOO, RAR, ARJ, ARC, TAB, GAR, LZH, and other formats, as well as UUEncode, XXEncode, Mime64, and BinHex encoding.
The PentaZip Viewer lets users examine the contents of files without having to use the application that created them; supported formats range from Microsoft Word and Excel to JEPG, GIF, MP3, and AutoCad DXF and DWG, with new features like crop, copy, paste, resize, rotate, and dynamic zoom. Zip, unzip, zip and e-mail, and self-extracting archive and e-mail functions are available anywhere on your system using the right mouse button.
PentaZip 5.0 is available for download for $50, with a boxed version planned for $60.
