When discussing file compression software, it is logical to think of Winrar. It has been established little by little in collective thinking with years and years of outstanding performance. However, there are other options, in many cases with more innovative features for users and broader support that allows more extreme file compression.
Among these options we mention is 7Zip, a software developed by Igor Pavlov, which has managed to dethrone the now classic Winrar in many aspects; it uses an open-source file format called 7z, which achieves considerably more compression.
Of course, everything is subjective and depends on which program you feel most comfortable with in your daily use. But if it comes to choosing the most complete and efficient one, there are many factors to which you should pay special attention.
Throughout this article, we will test the possibilities they offer and the general performance of these two compression software, and we will try to clarify the doubts of many users from an objective point of view regarding which one has proven to excel in some aspects.
Table of Contents
Decision factors
Objectively, there are specific points that we must consider to choose a winner in the competition between these two programs, and we list them one by one.
Price
This is a primary factor in the decision for many users who seek to create a comfortable, practical and efficient work environment in their home or office, appropriately considering the estimated budget for the software they will use on each computer.
The case of each of these programs is quite different; for example:
In the case of Winrar, it is entirely free to download and install. And it also has a 40-day trial period. Once this period has passed, each time they use the program, they will be notified about the need to register a payment method.
The price of Winrar for a license, according to the prices updated as of Monday, October 18, 2021, is €36.24. However, it must be taken into account that the price will vary in favour of the number of licenses to be acquired, and it is well known that Winrar can continue to be used indefinitely despite not registering any payment.
In the case of 7Zip, since it is free software, it is truly free; there is no payment, no method to register, and no messages or notifications of an expired trial period. It is a program that offers its functionalities utterly free of charge.
You must take into account that, even though it is free software, it is kept updated, and thanks to the philosophy of its creator, it allows suggestions about the security conditions of the program.
Compatibility
This factor is also quite relevant when choosing between the two programs. To know the specific provisions of this section, it is essential to know:
In the case of Winrar, its development team has constantly maintained very effective updates where the intentions to remain at the forefront of the file compressor market are evident.
This has effectively led them to develop versions compatible with Windows, FreeBSD and even Linux, for both 32 or 64-bit architectures, and with support for formats such as RAR, RAR4, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, 7Z, XZ and Z, while being fully capable of generating compressed files in EXE format.
Now, as for 7Zip, we are talking about software available for Windows, Linux, Mac and DOS, which works on any architecture and supports a much wider number of formats, among which are 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM, ARJ, CAB, ISO, LZH, MSI, RAR, XAR, Z and is also capable of generating executable compressed files in 7z format.
Security
Here, we talk about one of the most important sections, if not the most relevant, regarding software. To protect your privacy and make sure you keep your files safe, you should keep in mind that both software can encrypt your files when compressing them; the only thing that changes is the encryption method, which is AES-128 in the case of Winrar and AES-256 in the case of 7zip.
Either of the two encryptions fulfils the main objective of providing another layer of security to your files; however, the case of 7zip is slightly more efficient and reliable. Able to secure your files with a more up-to-date version of file encryption.
Compression capacity
In order to establish the capabilities, the large community of users has conducted a practical analysis through tests of each compression software. The test that they have determined to be sufficiently effective to decide on the compression capacity has been to compress the game files for Windows SOMA, which occupies around 20.6 Gb of more than 40,000 files with 2,805 folders.
In the case of 7zip, it emerged as the winner with the highest compression capacity, which managed to reduce the weight of the files to the point where they occupied a little less than 10 GB and took 24 minutes and 26 seconds.
In the case of Winrar, with its particular format, it has compressed to the point of reducing the file size to 11 GB. However, it took just 16 minutes and 51 seconds.
Regarding compression quality, the clear winner is 7zip, with a much more effective reduction in file size. On the other hand, the one that has been determined to be the fastest is Winrar, although its compression quality could be more effective.
According to other tests carried out, the broad advantage of 7zip has become even more evident.
However, as we have said at the beginning of this entire analysis, it depends on each user and their use of the compression software in their daily life to determine which is the most effective.
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