WinZip vs WinRAR: A comparison of benefits, differences between the file compression tools

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File compression has become more and more important as technology has advanced. Once, disk space was a major concern and buying additional hard disk was often expensive. File compression was a tactic that made it possible for people to store more data in less disk space.

Battle of the File Compression Giants

Two of the most popular compression formats in the world are zip and rar. With the introduction of windows, software developers created software that can compress into such formats made the GUIs for windows – giving rise to WinZip and WinRAR. WinZip was the first to be created, and has enjoyed early mass popularity.

Compared to WinZip, WinRAR is relatively new and it has proven to be effective in compressing large files, regularly outperforming its predecessor. WinRAR was also the first to bring in features that went beyond its capabilities; such features include archive spanning and context menu integration. Even while offering more benefits compared to WinZip, when it comes to general
use, it couldn’t overtake it. It was more popular among intellectuals and individuals that had limited disk spaces.

In the past, hard disks back then were really expensive, thus the requirement of software that can compress files to help save disk space. Disk space in today’s world has gone up exponentially, and is no longer a problem for most users. Even if you exhaust your current disk capacity, the cost of getting an additional one with high capacity is very low. There are still people compressing their files, not so as to save on disk space, but rather to use it for quicker uploading and downloading over the internet.

One feature often used is file spanning. Reducing the size of a big file makes it easier to upload or email them.

What is WinZip? This is the first file compression software made, which has been popular since its creation in 1991. It was firstly created to compress files, but recently its facilities range has increased. It can be used for file management, file sharing, driver updates, malware protection, registry optimization, conversion of PDF files to word, and conversion of word files to PDF formats.
WinZip is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Compressing and sending large files has become easier as a result of this software. In addition to that, there are still winzip versions for Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

What is WinRAR? This is a more recent development than WinZip . It had additional features such as first time context menu, spanning and archive options. WinRAR can support Zip files and also Rar file formats. This software is available in 45 different languages for Mac, Linux, Windows XP, Android and FreeBSD.

WinRAR can unpack 17 archive files, and has a file compression of 1MBto 1GB. Presently, more than 500 million people make use of this software for file compression, file transfer, data storage organization,  and email transmission. It is ideal for multimedia files, because it can automatically detect the most suitable compression method for files. It should be noted that WinRAR had a security vulnerability that left millions vulnerable. They’ve since patched the bug.

Major Differences Between WinRAR and WinZip

  • WinRAR comes in 45 different languages, while winzip comes in only 7 languages
  • WinRAR has the option of solid compression and a standard Rar compression, while WinZip
    doesn’t
  • WinRAR makes it possible to extract from separate archive, broken files, or setting up
    compression dictionary size, but it is not available in WinZip
  • After each compression volume, pause and size setting are available in winrar, but not in
    WinZip
  • WinZip conversion rate of word files, text files, and bitmap files are twice as fast compared to
    WinRAR
  • WinRAR has more advanced and protective security feature than WinZip
  • By using WinRAR, it is possible to unpack 17 archive files, while WinZip only makes it possible for
    unpacking 13
  • Winzip makes it possible to multitask – such as converting PDF files to Word and vice versa,
    but WinRAR lacks this feature
  • Winrar can accept WinZip file format, but WinZip cannot accept WinRARfile format

The Bottom Line

Apart from all the technical considerations and features, the main aim of file compression software is to combine various files into one file. This is for easy transfer and identification in a large group of documents. This usually happens when it submit reports or pictures that might be too large to handle. This is what gives WinZip the edge, mainly due to its popularity. Getting a free WinZip will make it possible convert large files into smaller ones. Also, zip file formats can be opened in Mac, Windows, and Linux without requiring any addition software.

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