WinZip

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WinZip

One of the first German full versions of WinZip, version 6.1 under Windows NT 3.51.
Basic data

developer WinZip International LLC, Corel Corporation
Publishing year 1991
Current  version 23.0
(October 30, 2018)
operating system Microsoft Windows and macOS
category Data compression
License Shareware
www.winzip.com/

WinZip is a packing program for Windows and macOS developed by WinZip Computing (formerly Nico Mak Computing ) . By default, WinZip creates archives in ZIP format ; but it also supports various other archive formats.

history

WinZip 1.0, a front-end version of the compression program PKZIP written by Phil Katz , was first released as shareware for the Windows graphical user interface ( GUI ) in April 1991 . Already before, in January 1991, the company Nico Mak Computing had published a GUI front-end version for the OS / 2 Presentation Manager under the name PMZIP. Originally, WinZip was published on Compuserve , but was soon available on major online services such as GEnie, Prodigy, and others.

From 1993 onwards, the software for the best-selling Windows titles, such as the Windows 3.0 book "Windows Secrets" by Brian Livingston, was supplied on accompanying disks , which was available for free download . In 1994, WinZip became the officially required compression tool at CompuServe.

Starting with version 5.0 in 1993, the makers of WinZip integrated the compression code from the Info-ZIP project, an open source variant of Phil Katz's original PKZIP tool, which abolished the need to run PKZIP.

In May 2006, the Canadian technology group and software manufacturer Corel Corporation , best known for its WordPerfect and CorelDRAW product lines, announced the acquisition of WinZip Computing.

WinZip for Mac OS X was released in November 2010. This version only works with the Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 operating system . An application for Apple iOS has also been available under the WinZip brand since February 2012 .

Functions

WinZip is available in standard and professional versions. However, the ability of Windows ME and later versions of Microsoft Windows to open and create ZIP files as compressed folders has limited the need for additional packers.

  • Creation, addition of and extraction from ZIP archives.
  • configurable Microsoft Windows shell integration
  • 128- and 256-bit AES encryption
  • Support of additional file formats: bzip2 (9.0), PPMd (10.0), WavPack (11.0), LHA / LZH (11.2), LZMA (12.0), 7z (12.0)
  • Decompression of .bz2 and RAR files.
  • Support for ARC and ARJ archives if suitable external programs are installed
  • direct writing of ZIP archives on CD and DVD
  • Decoding of .b6, .hqx and .uue formats
  • Automation of backup jobs
  • integrated FTP upload
  • Email ZIP archives
  • Unicode support to allow international characters to be displayed for filenames in a ZIP file

WinZip add-ons

  • WinZip Courier: Automatic zipping of all files that are attached to an outgoing email. Support of the e-mail clients Microsoft Outlook , Outlook Express , Windows Mail , Gmail and Hotmail .
  • WinZip Self-Extractor: Adding self-extracting modules to ZIP archives.
  • WinZip Command Line Add-on: Adding a command line to WinZip

criticism

For several years the manufacturer has also been selling various other software with questionable benefits under the name "WinZip". These include products such as "WinZip Malware Protector", "WinZip Driver Updater" and "WinZip Registry Optimizer".

This is not about serious software, but about offers that try to earn money by maliciously deceiving users. As a rule, the programs end up undesirably on the user's computer through misleading advertising and then assume there is an urgent need for action (e.g. system optimization, removal of an alleged virus infection). In order to be able to carry out the supposedly necessary operations, the software then requires a paid upgrade. An actual benefit for the buyer cannot be determined. Malwarebytes Inc. has therefore identified the WinZip Malware Protector as a "fake computer cleaner".

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Corel takes over WinZip , heise, accessed on May 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ WinZip for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad , netzwelt, accessed on May 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ WinZip Malware Protector is fake , accessed August 5, 2019.