ALZip

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ALZip
Basic data

developer ESTsoft
Publishing year 1999
Current  version 8.51
(November 26, 2011)
operating system Windows
programming language Delphi
License proprietary ( shareware )
www.altools.com/ALTools/ALZip.aspx

ALZip (Korean: 알집 ) is a proprietary packing program and data compression tool from the South Korean software manufacturer ESTsoft for Microsoft Windows . It is mainly found in Korea and Japan.

It is written in the Delphi programming language and for a long time was sold as shareware , except for the free Korean-language version . In August 2012, the manufacturer published a universal activation code on the website altools.com, so that the program is now available again free of charge.

Formats

The proprietary, expandable standard file format offers support for Unicode , the modern LZMA compression method , strong encryption with AES and progressive compression ("solid"). The intended filename extension is .egg.

The earlier standard format was closely based on the Zip file format , practically removed its size limitation and allowed the use of the Deflate and bzip2 compression methods . The intended filename extension is .alz, which is the Magic Number with which the files begin ALZ\001. The structure of this proprietary format was only revealed through reverse engineering and the manufacturer does not offer any unpacker program libraries. The files can be read under Linux by the archive management tool File Roller of the GNOME work environment .

The current version 8.51 reads 40 compression formats and can save in 8 formats.

In addition, the program offers the encryption of archive files using zip-2.0, AES-128 or AES-256 and can create split archives. These functions are compatible with Winzip (when using the zip format).

history

ALZip was originally developed at ESTsoft in 1999 out of the frustration of the employees when dealing with the English-language user interface of WinZip . The Korean interface was very well received and the application was released later that year.

It became the most popular pack and data compression application in Korea in just under a year and the most downloaded software by December 2001. An English-language version was published for the first time in 2002; Support for over 20 other languages ​​followed. In 2004 a market share of 70% was achieved in South Korea.

ALZip was initially released as freeware for free use by everyone . As of October 2001, the free usage license only covered private use and the software was immediately subject to a charge for use in governments, as well as for commercial use - planned from April 2002. With version 7, which appeared in 2007, the license model was switched from freeware to adware . The software now loaded advertising banners from the Internet at runtime and displayed them in the user interface. From December 1, 2008, all versions except the Korean-language version were only available for a fee as shareware. Since August 2012, the program has again been made available worldwide free of charge.

Up to version 4.9, which appeared in 2001, compression was carried out using the bzip2 method as standard; after this fact was discovered, only the less efficient deflate algorithm was used from version 5. In 2003, the confidentiality of the file format structure and the exclusion of third-party developers from using the format led to controversy. The structure of the ALZ files was developed by reverse engineering and on October 22, 2004 a reconstructed unpacking program for the ALZ format was published for the first time under the free zlib license . As a result, various competing applications implemented reading support for the format. With Version 8, a new file format (EGG) was introduced again in 2010, which is now used by default and is now openly documented by the manufacturer.

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ http://www.softpedia.com/progChangelog/ALZip-Changelog-15955.html
  2. ↑ a b Archived copy ( Memento from April 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ http://code.google.com/p/theunarchiver/wiki/AlZipSpecs
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from February 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive )