Great Minds Use ZipGenius

Need Compressing?

Winzip, WinRar, 7-Zip, ZipAl, WinAce, there are so many compression tools to choose from that you really get lost in the mix. Which is the right one for your daily needs? Let's find out if ZipGenius can appease both intermediate and power users.

I'd have to say that I wasn't expecting ZipGenius to be as good as it was, especially in the grab-bag market of compression tools. It was a pleasant surprise after sifting through a list of sub par compression applications.

It's got a great interface, decent speed, but more importantly, I actually enjoy using it. It supports Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, NT and XP.

What's Included

It works with: ZIP, RAR, 7Z, CZIP, EXE (ZIP SFX), JAR, DSFZ, BSZ, SXW, SXI, SXC (OpenOffice.org 1.x documents), OOT (OpenOffice.org 2.x documents), TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, TAZ, TGZ, ISO, NRG, CMI, WAL, UPX and many others.

After your basic install, I was able to grab, unzip and compress the basic .ZIP and .7Z files without a hassle. I liked the look of this program since ZipGenius resembles the typical Explorer style view and I thought it had some decent features.

The one I mostly enjoyed was that ZipGenius allows you to add your signature and contact information to any zip file you create. It offers encryption, antivirus scanner support, backup, statistics, download time calculator, disk spanning, file export and support for OpenOffice. You can also create self-extracting exe files (this includes a setup launch and icon).

ZipGenius has a multi functioning plug-in support which has the capability to use the Open Source UPX executable compressor to further compress (.exe, .dll, .ocx, .img) files. It is available in English and Italian and you can download a Language pack with Spanish, Polish, Japanese, German, Chinese and Swedish.

It doesn't cost you anything to get, but donations are definitely encouraged. Some key features to focus on would be ZipGenius' rapid compression speed, but it lacks in how good it actually compresses. Its compression ratio doesn't compete with that of WinRAR's. However, it offers the ability to export all your customized settings to a file (.reg).

The Good

Zip Genius offers 7Z and .RAR compression capabilities (.RAR is only for decompressing). It's got a fast archiving speed compared to a lot of other archiving programs. It's definitely user friendly and very intuitive. It's got a basic FTP tool that works and encryption capabilities. It's got great plug-ins and add-ons for you to work with.

The Bad

You can't get a quick and easy help file from the program, you have to go online instead� So if you don't have the net, you can't get too much help on compressing data. You're not going to get the smallest archive when using ZipGenius (but you will get one of the faster ones).

The Truth

Aside from its boggy compression ratio, ZipGenius combines the sort of appeal you'd like to see with most archivers. It's got a nice interface with an intuitive and ergonomic design along with great features and speed.

Check out some screenshots below.