File and folder archiving is one of the oldest operations done on a computer. I am sure that all of you have appealed to this operation in order to save some space on the disk, protect some of your files or simply for sending multiple items via email. The best known utilities on the market are WinRAR and WinZip, but there are also many other applications that do the same fine job as the aforementioned tools for free.

The most popular format when it comes to archiving is definitely ZIP. Everybody heard about it and knows how to deal with it, although there are formats better than this, ZIP has established itself as a standard in file compression.

If you are looking just for compressing the files in view of sending them over the Internet, saving some space or just for securing them with a password, a freeware alternative will do just fine. And the options are plenty, PeaZip and 7Zip being my favorites. Their only purpose is create and extract from multiple archive formats.

jZip is the newest program in this category and is designed to help you to easily create archives and extract the files from compressed files. The application is 100% freeware so you can use it at home or in an enterprise environment with absolutely no strings attached.

Installing the application is a cinch and should not pose any problems. After all the files have been copied to their locations you can proceed to configuring the application by enabling explorer shell extensions, and jZip file association. The desktop shortcut will not be available unless you say so and at any time it can be removed from the jZip's Configuration panel.

The interface is nice and simple and the explorer-like approach should make it easier for you to handle it. There are no complicated options or features and when starting the software the only active buttons are New Archive and Open Archive.

Jzip just reached version 1.0 and unfortunately there are glitches that will hinder its smooth use. One would think that New Archive button is a good way to start creating archives from files and folders stored on the computer. Well, things aren't as easy as this because when activated, New Archive button supports only adding files to the compressed file. The good news is that files can be archived in 7Z, ZIP, GZ, BZ2 and TAR.

For all this to work you will have to type in the name of the archive you want to create and browse to the storage location, click OK and only now you can proceed to adding your files. I give these details as there is no proper documentation on how the application works so some users may no get along too well with this.

An easier way to create an archive is drag and drop. Using the shell context menus will put you in the same situation as using New Archive button, but drag and drop works quite OK. But there is a problem, though. The appended file, as seen from the menu, can only be compressed to ZIP. Accessing the entire menu shows no way of changing the format. From what I could see in the dialog, the only way to make a different type of archive is change the extension from ZIP to 7Z, GZ, BZ2 or TAR. Pressing New button in the dialog will result in New Archive dialog to pop up giving you access to its options.

The list of formats supported for decompression is a tad larger. The application can also deal with RAR, ISO, TBZ and TGZ compressed formats as well and there is no obstacle in doing this. Testing the application resulted in complete success with extracting files from these types of archives.

Once you have managed to create an archive (ZIP, 7z or TAR), you can add more files to it quite easily, using the same drag and drop method or the Add button in the toolbar. Both of them work fine, and the only visible difference is in the way the settings are presented.

But, you should be aware of the fact that when the file is dropped into an archive you won't be able to change the compression type and level. Using Add button will give you access to all the options in the menu.

The options when creating an archive are not at all complicated and include the basic settings. You can choose to split the archive into different preset sizes or customize it to your needs, encrypt the files with a password, save full path info, reset archive attributes, include system and hidden files in the resulting compressed file. When enriching an archive you have four different actions to choose from: add and replace the file, move and replace, update the archive without adding the file and updating it and adding the files as well.

When loading up a compressed folder jZip lets you browse it as it were a normal directory. You can see all the files and open them in the associated program with no difficulty. You even have an Open With option in the context menu, so it would be just like using Windows Explorer.

As the application is based on 7Zip engine, I could not help myself comparing the speed of the two. The size of the file used during testing was 1.048.6MB and contained mainly audio files, and some TXT files. With absolutely no doubt, victory belongs to 7Zip. It compressed the folder in 7'24'' while jZip took a bit longer to carry out the job (9'29'').


The Good

I liked the looks of the interface. There are no complications and the explorer like ease of use does nothing but make it more comfortable to handle.

After each compression all the files are displayed with corresponding information like type of file, real size size after compression and compression ratio.

You can check the archive for bad or corrupt items.

The Bad

The user does not know from the start what types of archives jZip can create and what it can decompress.

When drag and drop method is used to compress a folder, protecting the resulting archives with a password can be done only after the compression process is over despite the fact that Encrypt Added Files option in the Add menu is checked.

When compressing a folder, if one of its files are opened the compression process will stop with no prior warning. I wish there was be a notification alerting the user that the process cannot continue because "X" is in use.

The Truth

jZip is easy to use (save the misleading New Archive button) and provides the same quality in compressing the files, but with less determination. It will carry out the job but in less time than 7Zip.

It is obvious that there are still issues to be fixed, but it's a good start, though. Once you make it work it will do a good job.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: