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Although it's ancient in Internet years, WinZip is still up and kicking. Among the various improvements and tweaks, the latest upgrade to Version 12 includes one massive reinvigorating feature: the WinZip folks have figured out how to compress JPEGs without sacrificing image quality.

WinZip 12 delivers on its promise of lossless JPEG compression.

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The details on exactly how this is done remain a secret for now, although WinZip has promised to open up its compression algorithms as they've done in the past. On the user end of things, this means that ZIP files containing JPEGs will be more than just bundles of your photos--the archives will actually be smaller in size.

To test it out, I wanted to create a massive archive. I used all the screenshots I've taken of programs since January 2007, more than 550 images that worked out to be about 70MB uncompressed. Keep in mind that the issue here isn't basic compression, but lossless compression, where the image quality in the JPEG doesn't turn south.

That test provided 24 percent space savings, toward the high-end of WinZip's predictions of between 20 percent and 25 percent. This only works with JPEG images. GIFs, TIFs, PNGs, and others will be compressed using standard algorithms, and so it's unlikely that you'll see a drastic savings in space with them.

Some of the other new features in WinZip 12 were nearly as interesting. The Pro version of WinZip offers a Zip from Camera option. This cuts out multiple steps and instead lets users archive their images as they get transferred onto their computer. There's also a new tool, Send Selected, that lets you e-mail archives as they get created. However, this is WinZip playing catch-up--other compression tools, like 7-Zip or WinRAR, have offered this for some time.

This latest version includes better encryption control that should appeal to system administrators, where they can determine the encryption method or specify if one is even to be used. Both professionals and home users will probably like that you can now create new folder architectures within a ZIP once it's been created. WinZip also now autodetects the file type in Smart View, which will then show thumbnails if the archive is made up of images, for example.

Without a doubt, the lossless JPEG compression is the big draw here. The minor improvements to the workflow and security settings are important, but not must-haves unless you're a die-hard WinZip fan.

It's easy for Windows users to forget that WinZip isn't the only file-compression utility in the world, nor is WinRAR its only replacement. Like its better-known competitors, the free 7-Zip unpacks a host of archive formats, including ZIP, TAR, GZ, and its own 7Z format. Unlike the competition, though, it can create TAR and GZ archives, which are commonly used on Unix and Linux systems. Even though it's small, there's an even smaller portable version, too.

The program's ability to shrink files was stunning. 7Z archives tested up to 40 percent smaller then their ZIP equivalents, although compression did take longer, and the highest compression settings can hog system resources. Advanced options include the ability to create solid and self-extracting archives, and to adjust the compression level and password protection. The program also has a command line module. Though the main interface is overly simple and looks like it was designed for Windows 95, it's not hard to use and just about as self-explanatory as a program can get. The context menu options, which include "testing" an archive, indicate that 7-Zip should be taken seriously.

Safe and dependable software old-timers WordPerfect and WinZip have been bestowed with some upgrades. WordPerfect gets a major overhaul with Version X4, while WinZip's 11.2 adds some new features to the program, the first update in a year.

WordPerfect X4 gives users a choice of interfaces and defaults at startup.

(Credit: Corel)

You can read the full CNET Reviews analysis of WordPerfect X4 here, but in short, it's a good, solid improvement on what has gone before in the suite even if it is cost-prohibitive and not quite as spiffy as one would hope. It's able to gracefully handle more than 60 document formats, including the nascent Open Document Format, a stark contrast to Microsoft Office's decision to create its own "open format" instead.

It's also useful that WordPerfect displays different interfaces for different purposes, with a different look for the main interface, for WordPerfect 5.1, for MS Word, and for Legal mode. The WordPerfect suite includes spreadsheet-creating Quattro Pro and PowerPoint analogue Presentations, both of which have improved with the times--but not dramatically so.

The two new apps in the suite are Lightning and Mail. Mail is an e-mail client comparable with Outlook, but lacks built-in configurations for handling Gmail, Yahoo, and other Web-based e-mail systems as Mozilla Thunderbird does. Lightning was somewhat disappointing for Corel's answer to Web 2.0. Online services provide 200MB of storage for free, a file navigator indexes your hard drive, and a lightweight viewer and text editor round out the package. While it offers a lot, the workflow isn't always intuitive.

Besides the price, though, other problems included difficulty managing multiple documents opened simultaneously in WordPerfect, and a lack of refinement to many of the newer features. Users who are turned off by Microsoft's changes in Office 2007 might find X4 to be a suite worth investing in. Personally, I used WordPerfect for nearly 20 years, but gave it up last year to jump to OpenOffice.org.

WinZip now supports a second interface that looks more like Explorer.

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WinZip's changes are far less extensive, but should please people who are still loyal to the program. Native LHA support has been added, so that WinZip can create and manage LHA files, and unicode support has been extended to sharing files that have names with international characters. ARC and ARJ support has been removed.

I was actually surprised, though, by some of the newer features I hadn't picked up on when versions 11 and 11.1 came out. Most interestingly, there's now a new spreadsheet-style interface that I found to be easier to use and far more pleasant to look at than the old open interface that is also still available. RAR and BZ2 extraction support was added, too, both long-overdue compatibility issues.

It's great to see both WordPerfect and WinZip still kicking around after all these years, but if news of open-source software's rising dominance is to be believed, these programs will have an even shorter lifespan than I'd thought unless they make some drastic changes.

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Every computer user needs a solid file compression program. Not only are they mandatory for opening downloaded software, they offer several other useful features for tasks like creating e-mail attachments, performing backups, and saving space on your hard drive. Most people use WinZip because it comes pre-installed on a lot of Windows PCs, but WinZip isn't the only program available for file compression.

There's certainly nothing wrong with WinZip, but some programs offer better file compression or features that may be more in tune with what you need. For instance, some apps make efficient compression their focus, while others concentrate on the strongest encryption to keep your files safe. If you're looking for an alternative to WinZip, here are some programs I recommend.

Big buttons and an intuitive interface make this popular utility easy to navigate.

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WinRAR is a popular choice for file compression for good reason: It's a great program. This shareware app ($29) using the RAR format (with support for several others) boasts the ability to compress your archives at rates 8 percent to 15 percent better than regular ZIP files. As an old standby in the file compression category, WinRAR offers a polished interface and easy-to-understand wizards that help you create manageable e-mail attachments, quick document backups, and encrypted archives. It's the only shareware program in this group of apps, but it is well worth the price. You'll be able to access most features without registration.

Though not as pretty, 7-Zip has plenty of power under the hood.

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7-Zip is a free alternative that is not as pretty as WinRAR or WinZip, but like WinRAR, offers its own highly efficient 7z compression method (they claim compression rates 2 percent to 8 percent better than regular ZIP files, but in our tests it was much better) so your backup archives take up less space. You'll be able to create self-extracting archives as well as provide password protection for added security. 7-Zip doesn't offer the polish and ease of use found in the paid apps, but it easily makes up for it with functionality.

This quick to compress alternative works as great as it looks.

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PeaZip is a newer discovery for me, but I definitely like what I see so far. This open-source (free) compression program supports a huge list of formats and is incredibly easy to use with a well-designed and skinnable interface. A solid file browser with search and history features makes finding your archives easy, and PeaZip can handle multiple archives simultaneously. Complete with a number of different solid encryption methods, PeaZip is a great choice for anyone looking for a flexible WinZip alternative.

More than just the key to opening downloads, file compression utilities have a lot of uses. Choose one of these alternatives if you want something other than what's preloaded on your hard drive. As always, let me know if you use something better so I can check it out!

Here's an indispensable nugget of advice: how to zip an archive so it can unzip itself. CNET editor Molly Wood shows you how to create a standalone EXE in WinZip that your recipients can open with a single click.