News and Reviews > Best Archive Tool
Re: New Review (09/05/05) - Best Archive Tool
Matteo:
Hello.
I am Matteo Riso, ZipGenius developer. A ZG user pointed me to your review and I find it really nice, but I have to point out some errors upon ZipGenius.
Re: New Review (09/05/05) - Best Archive Tool
1 . "Best archive size achieved". Did you try Brutal+UPX compression level?
In ZipGenius 6 you can put "UPX.exe" ( http://upx.sourceforge.net ) in ZipGenius program folder. The program will recognize it and you will be allowed to pre-compress executable files (EXE, OCX, DLL) through UPX, before adding them to a ZIP file.
Why I added this feature? Many applications are distributed uncompressed but they could be smaller if their developers would use UPX. Here is a PDF about the benefit of using UPX as precompressor: Read this UPX. This feature will produce smaller ZIP files, even smaller than using WinZip's Maximum (Enhanced deflate) compression method, which also produces non-portable zip files (e. g.: you can't read those archives in other ZIP utilities).
2 . "Batch archive extraction". This feature is partially supported. Better: it is an automatic procedure. You just have to open multiple archives at once (ZipGenius uses tabs like Firefox to display the content of many archives) and right-clik on tabs:
Re: New Review (09/05/05) - Best Archive Tool
Now you just have to click on "Extract all archives to separated folders". This is a batch procedure driven by the program.
Other batch actions may be done by hand using the command line support.
3 . "Licence type - SW". That's wrong.
ZipGenius is free for any environment: home, office, corporate, educational and so on. Donations are accepted just to maintain the main website and other services like mirror sites, forum , FAQ and Help online.
4 . "Cons" in your review:
Re: New Review (09/05/05) - Best Archive Tool
Yes, it can, and it can also split other kind of files through the Cutter ZGTool.
The Suite Edition of ZipGenius includes both UPX.exe and Cutter tool, so that should be the package to use when trying out all ZipGenius features: except compiled help files, it includes everything plus additional themes for ZipGenius GUI.
Greetings :up:
mouser:
hi matteo, welcome to the site!
i know zaine will get back to you about your comments and make changes to the review - it is a huge amount of work to do these reviews and inevitably a few mistakes slip in but we are anxious to get them corrected right away, and the changes will be up today with a little note at top pointing readers to them.
great to hear that zip genius is donation ware - and i encourage everyone to check it out and consider making a donation. us donation-based coders have to stick together after all :)
one other thing that i think everyone here agrees about, which is that having an active developer of a program, who is a real person, who takes the time to come make a post like this, is worth its weight in gold - it is so refreshing, and it speaks volumes for your integriry and commitment to the program. i know that i'm going to go try zipgenius and keep my eye on it, and look forward to watching it develop.
please feel free to post occasionally about any new developments, or if you want some feedback about ideas, etc. do not hesitate to stop by and talk.
-mouser
ps. ZipGenius homepage: http://www.zipgenius.it/index_eng.htm
zridling:
Thanks Matteo, and please accept my apologies. I downloaded and worked with the Standard version, unaware of the additional functionality of the Suite edition. I will work with it for a day and update the review within 48 hours (Thursday AM if not sooner).
Jibz:
Just a quick note on using UPX as a precompressor -- it is not a reversible operation, and as such would not be lossless compression.
rjbull:
the real purpose of the review, which was to find the best archive program, not necessarily the best compression ratio.-zridling (September 06, 2005, 10:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
Of course, everyone has different criteria for "best" ;)
Most of my archives are made by automated processes, i.e. batch files. That means I want a command-line tool, or at least, one that can be controlled from the command line. By the same token, I have essentially no interest in obligatory point-and-click GUIs, and I missed comments on which if any products were command-line compatible. If I really want a GUI, I use Total Commander as the shell.
If something is "freeware," I like to know whether it's free for all uses, or for personal use only. In future reviews, maybe the word "cost" could be supplemented by "license?"
Oh, dear, this does sound negative...
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