ZipWiz 2005

This is a novice-friendly file compression/decompression utility, but too many bells and whistles may leave advanced users searching for another tool.

ZipWiz 2005 isn't a wallflower. The bright red main control interface is glitzy and includes a mere six control buttons. Everything sparkles with this utility. Menus fly open, and preview buttons light up when you hover over them. Novices will like that ZipWiz holds their hand through every step. There are plenty of tips and hints on almost every screen, but all that information doesn't slow down the utility. Opening most directories quickly lists files, while ZipWiz allows select directories to be added as favorites for faster access. Compression and decompression is quick and accurate, and you can preview some compressed files to make sure they're what you need.

All these features make for a flexible program, but users wanting a basic tool to simply compress select files and place the zip in the same directory won't want to use ZipWiz. It just isn't basic enough for advanced users. Try this freeware if you're new to file compression or like glamorous software interfaces, but keep looking if you want the interface to stay out of your way.