Geek Software of the Week: 7Zip!
Yes, I have TWO GSotW’s this week! I have replaced IZarc, my former favorite unZip utility, with 7Zip! IZarc has too much crapware in it these days, it is harder and harder to install it with avoiding the junk! And, 7Zip is Open Source, has no crapware bundled, and works great!
“LZMA compression algorithm is very suitable for embedded applications. LZMA is released under the terms of the GNU LGPL. LZMA is also available under a proprietary license for those who can not use the GNU LGPL in their code.
7-Zip also supports encryption with AES-256 algorithm. This algorithm uses a cipher key with a length of 256 bits. To create that key, 7-Zip uses derivation function based on SHA-256 hash algorithm. A key derivation function produces a derived key from text password defined by user. For increasing the cost of exhaustive search for passwords 7-Zip uses big number of iterations to produce cipher key from text password.
The main features of 7-Zip
- High compression ratio in 7z format with LZMA and LZMA2 compression
- Supported formats:
- Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
- Unpacking only: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR and Z.
- For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
- Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Powerful command line version
- Plugin for FAR Manager
- Localizations for 79 languages
7-Zip works in Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2008 / 2003 / 2000 / NT / ME / 98. There is a port of the command line version to Linux/Unix.
Can I use 7-Zip in a commercial organization?
7-Zip is free software. You can use it on any computer. You don’t need to register or pay for 7-Zip.
How can I set file associations to 7-Zip in Windows 7 and Windows Vista?
You must run 7-Zip File Manager in administrator mode. Right-click the icon of 7-Zip File Manager, and then click ‘Run as administrator.’ Then you can change file associations and some other options.”