WinRar – tests & review

WinRar may not be the best software on the market, but it is very efficient and performs actions such as compressing RAR files and ZIP files easily and this is something that its major rival WinZip is not capable of doing.

However, WinRAR is not very easy to use and doesn’t get along well with Outlook Express. It is meant to be used by people who have acquired a certain experience in computers. But archive Wizard is user friendly and WinRAR also has a command line interface for MacOS X and Linux computers and a peculiar feature called PocketRAR, useful for Windows based cell phones.

Characteristics and Features

WinRAR is a good example of file compression programs, including the options to create self-extracting files and create multiple volumes after breaking archives. It has also the ability to repair damaged files. It get along well with Windows Explorer and when it comes to surfing the net, an advantage that computer users will certainly appreciate is the ability to scan archives for viruses before you extract the files. In fact, WinRAR is one of the few file compression programs that includes a built-in virus scanner. Moreover, folders can be compressed and emailed when using the internet browser previously mentioned.
When testing the Settings menu, the user is able to change which files WinRAR is associated with and show comments about default paths.
A very important feature refers to the ability to detect automatically the type of files the user is compressing and choosing the best compression rate.
WinRAR leaves room for improvements such as the ability to extract archives without using Windows Explorer and integrating with Outlook with the purpose of emailing archives within the application.

Compression and Formats Supported

WinRAR is able to compress Word DOCs and Excel XLS files into ZIP archives. Some WinRAR features are not as good as the its rival WinZip: the former cannot compress JPEGs as good as the latter.
WinRAR doesn’t offer too many possibilities when it comes to compression formats. In fact, the only thing that WinRAR does is compressing files into ZIP and RAR archives. Although it has been argued that these are relevant features for compression software, it is obvious that it leaves room for improvement.
WinRAR is able to extract using 13 extraction formats that include RAR, ZIP , 7Zip, TAR, ACE and CAB.
Extraction support is also offered to computer users.

How to Use

As we have said before, WinRAR’s interface seems to have been designed for users with specific knowledge. But it is only the first impression, once the user gets used to it, he can compress and extract files as he pleases. When doing so, WinRAR uses a rather old method for compression, that of displaying menu trees: if the user wants to compress and extract files in a certain folder, he goes to that folder then drags the files or folders into WinRAR. The compression software will automatically compress the archive to that folder.

Help and Technical Support

Email support is at hand with WinRAR, but probably the best help is offered in the form of an extensive built-in manual and FAQ.

WinRar Conclusions

To sum up, we can say that WinRAR is used at a very large scale and it is quite popular among those who compress and extract files. It may be a little more difficult to use at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll see that it WinRAR is a very good compression program.