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File archiving and archivers for Mac OS X. BetterZip is the only full-fledged archiver for Mac Open mac archive download program

Starting this review with such a title, I realized that not all readers would agree with me. There are so many apps on the Mac Appstore that work with archives, why is BetterZip the only one? I'll try to explain my point of view.

When choosing an archiver for Mac, I was guided by the following criteria:

  • Ability to archive and unpack all popular archive formats. Among the “desktop” ones, these are ZIP, RAR and 7Z. It would be desirable to be able to create archives of the less popular GZip and BZip. The ZIP format alone in the built-in archiver is no longer enough. Sometimes you need to work with RAR archives; it is often used on servers for incremental backup of files.
  • View the contents of the archive without the need to unpack, as well as update files in the archive. This is generally already a de facto standard for archivers, to which many are accustomed using WinZip and WinRAR. It's not at all convenient without it.
  • Finder context menu integration. First of all, archiving selected files from the context menu.
  • Flexible settings for creating archives and compatibility of created archives with Windows. These include archiving profiles and ignoring OS X service files and folders (have you seen what an archive created by built-in tools looks like in Windows?).
  • Application design. This is where I get really boring when I nitpick the design of Mac apps and their icons. I appreciate OS X for its unique design and ease of use, and I can't stand looking at programs that look like something straight out of the 90s. Perhaps this point is not critical for everyone, but I am sure that I am not the only one.
  • Application support. Personally, I rarely use applications whose latest version was released 5 years ago.

Which archivers could have been included in this review, but were not included and why:

What BetterZip lacks is a library in Automator. It would be cool to be able to automate the process of creating or unpacking archives.

Let me remind you that BetterZip can be downloaded from the official website. It is possible to use the program for educational purposes. Cost today - $19.95 .

Thanks to Robert Rezabek for providing the BetterZip license.

Archiver for Mac OS - Fast and convenient archiver that supports RAR, StuffIt, 7zip and Zip archives. At the same time, it allows you to create encrypted backups of data and convert archives from one format to another.

Who said that working with archives has to be boring and tedious? Archiver makes the process of reducing file size, splitting files and unpacking archives fun!

ARCHIVES - SIMPLE
Archiver made working with archives easier. But we saw areas for improvement and, with every effort, made working with archives even easier for you. Archiver 2 is a new interface, amazing speed and preview.

LOOK INSIDE
Are you unpacking the archive to see the contents? Forget it! With Archiver 2 you can view the contents of archives. And most importantly, Archiver allows you to extract only those files that you really need. Simply drag and drop files from the archive with the mouse.

HOORAY! DRAG & DROP
Don't worry about archives anymore - drag & drop is back. Now even smarter! Just drag files onto an icon or into the application window - Archiver will take care of the rest.

COMPRESS IMAGES AND AUDIO FILES
Tired of receiving messages about the attachment size being exceeded when sending an email? Does it seem like it takes forever to download a file? Introducing Archiver 2, our proprietary compression format that will truly reduce the size of your images and audio files.

MULTI-TASKING
Archiver 2 is ready to take full advantage of your Mac, allowing you to do more at once. And it's amazingly simple! You simply drag and drop more archives and Archiver unpacks them one by one.

THIS IS TOP SECRET
Keep your data safe! With Archiver, you can secure your data storage by creating encrypted archives protected by passwords you set.

DIVIDE AND UNITE
Is this file too large to store on disk or send via email? Archiver has always done a great job of both splitting and merging files. Archiver 2 also allows you to create multi-volume archives. All you need to do is specify the block size.

PROGRAM FEATURES

  • Intelligent drag & drop function
  • Reduce file and folder size with Zip, 7zip, RAR (using external RAR plugin), Gzip, Bzip compression
  • Proprietary compression format for image and audio files * Extract and convert all popular archive formats, including RAR, StuffIt, Zip, and 7zip
  • View archived contents
  • Create encrypted and password-protected archives
  • Split and merge files
SUPPORTED ARCHIVE FORMATS
  • RAR (rar, r00, r01, r02, ...)
  • 7zip (7z, 7z.001, 7z.002, ...)
  • Tar Gzip (tar.gz, tgz)
  • Tar Bzip2 (tar.bz2, tbz)
  • Tar Z (tar.Z) * CPIO (cpio)
  • ARJ [read only]
  • CAB [read only]
  • LhA (lha, lzh) [read only]
  • StuffIt (sit) [read only]
  • StuffIt Expander Archive (sea) [read only]
  • BinHex (hqx) [read only]
  • MacBinary (bin, macbin) [read only]
  • Linux RPM (rpm) [read only]
  • PAX [read only]
  • Amiga Disc File (adf) [read only]
  • Compressed Amiga Disc File (adz, ADZ) [read only]
  • Amiga DMS disk archive (dms, DMS) [read only]
  • Amiga LhF (f, F) [read only]
  • Amiga LZX (lzx) [read only]
  • Amiga DCS Disk Archive (dcs) [read only]
  • Amiga PackDev (pkd) [read only]
  • Amiga xMash (xms) disk archive [read only]
  • Amiga Zoom Disk Archive (zom) [read only]
  • HA Archive [read only]

Containing a tool for working with archives, macOS is also initially equipped with one. True, the capabilities of the built-in archiver are very limited - Archive Utility, integrated into the Apple OS, allows you to work only with ZIP and GZIP (GZ) formats. Naturally, this is not enough for most users, so in this article we will talk about software tools for working with archives on macOS, which are much more functional than the basic solution.

This archiver is a comprehensive solution for working with archives in the macOS environment. BetterZip provides the ability to decompress all common formats used for data compression, with the possible exception of SITX. With its help, you can create archives in ZIP, 7ZIP, TAR.GZ, BZIP, and if you install the console version of WinRAR, then the program will also support RAR files. The latter can be downloaded from the developer’s official website, the link to which you will find in.

Like any advanced archiver, BetterZip can encrypt compressed data and can split large files into fragments (volumes). It has a useful search function inside the archive, which works without the need for unpacking. In a similar way, you can extract individual files without unpacking all the contents at once. Unfortunately, BetterZip is distributed on a paid basis, and after the trial period ends, it can only be used to unpack archives, but not to create them.

StuffIt Expander

Like BetterZip, this archiver supports all common data compression formats (25 types) and is even slightly superior to its competitor. StuffIt Expander has full support for RAR, for which you don’t even need to install third-party utilities, and it also works with SIT and SITX files, which the previous application also cannot boast of. Among other things, this software works not only with regular, but also with password-protected archives.

StuffIt Expander is presented in two versions - free and paid, and it is logical that the capabilities of the second are much wider. For example, it can be used to create self-extracting archives and work with data on optical and hard drives. The program includes tools for creating disk images and backing up information contained on drives. Moreover, you can set your own schedule to create a backup of files and directories.

WinZip Mac

Hamster Free Archiver

A minimalistic archiver for macOS in appearance and functionality, very simple and easy to use. Hamster Free Archiver uses the ZIP format to compress data, and it allows you to open and unpack not only the mentioned ZIP, but also 7ZIP, as well as RAR. Yes, this is significantly less than the solutions discussed above, but for many users this will be enough. If desired, it can be designated as the default tool for working with archives, for which you just need to go to the application settings.

As the name implies, Hamster Free Archiver is distributed free of charge, which undoubtedly sets it apart from other similar programs. According to the developers, their archiver provides a fairly high degree of compression. In addition to the usual compression and decompression of data, it allows you to specify the path to save it or place it in the folder with the source file. This is where the hamster's functionality ends.

Keka


Another free archiver for macOS, which, moreover, is in many ways not inferior to its paid competitors. With Keka you can view and extract files contained in RAR, TAR, ZIP, 7ZIP, ISO, EXE, CAB and many more archives. You can pack data in ZIP, TAR and variations of these formats. Large files can be divided into parts, which will significantly simplify their use and, for example, uploading to the Internet.

There are few settings in Keka, but each of them is really necessary. So, by accessing the main menu of the application, you can specify a single path for saving all extracted data, select an acceptable degree of file compression when packing, assign it as the default archiver, and set associations with file formats.

The Unarchiver

This application can only be called an archiver with a slight stretch. Unarchiver is more of a compressed data viewer whose only option is to decompress it. Like all of the above programs, it supports common formats (more than 30), including ZIP, 7ZIP, GZIP, RAR, TAR. Allows you to open them, regardless of what program they were compressed in, how much and what encoding was applied.

The Unarchiver is distributed free of charge, and for this you can safely forgive its functional “modesty”. It will be of interest to those users who often have to work with archives, but only in one direction - solely for viewing and extracting packed files onto their computer, nothing more.

Conclusion

In this short article, we looked at the main features of six archivers for macOS. Half of them are paid, half are free, but, in addition, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and which one to choose is up to you. We hope this material was useful to you.

The “rar” archive cannot be opened on a MAC unless you have installed the archiver designed for this - WinRAR. Here you can download WinRAR for Mac OS X for free, or rather its console version (its correct name is RAR). The download link is at the bottom of the page, after the description.

Unfortunately, WinRAR does not have a graphical interface on Mac OS, but this does not mean that it is difficult to use. It is enough to remember a couple of commands and the process of unpacking archives will not cause you any difficulties.

After installation, type the command rar(or unrar). If the archiver is installed correctly, you will see information about its version and brief help on how to use it.

For help dial:

For example, to create an archive without compression, use the command:

Rar a -m0 archive.rar folder/

With maximum compression, command:

Rar a -m5 archive.rar folder/

To unpack all files into the current directory:

Unrar e archive.rar

Advantages of WinRAR for Mac OS

  1. Easy to use if you know the commands. But there are not many of them and their syntax is not complicated;
  2. It is possible to protect your archives with a password and encrypt all archived files;
  3. Selecting the degree of file compression, archiving without compressing folders and files for ease of storage and sending by mail.

Flaws

  1. There is no graphical interface, you need to know the commands to work with archives.

Download WinRAR for Mac OS X (latest version) from the official website using the link below.

A program such as an archiver is a working tool for the user of any operating system, be it Windows, Linux or Mac OS. Often the data that needs to be sent over the Internet to a colleague or interlocutor is of an unacceptable size, probably most often this concerns mail, and then a file archiver comes to the rescue, using different compression algorithms to reduce the file size to an acceptable one. The degree of compression of files by the archiver depends largely on the contents of the file, namely on its extension, txt or jpeg, for example.

And to put it even simpler, an archiver is a container-press where your files are placed (the archiving process), and in it they are compressed and stored until you unzip them (the unzipping process), and all the files will remain in that the form in which you placed them there.

In other cases, the archiver simply adds convenience when you need to send several files of different formats. And in this case, the user can archive several files (put them in a container) receiving one archive, and send just one archived file, and not a whole bunch of files that will have to be downloaded one by one, which takes time and is inconvenient. Likewise, the party receiving your file will download one archive instead of many different files, convenient, isn’t it?!

You also need to highlight one feature of archiving - the ability to set a password for the archive (the container with your files), and this means nothing more than that only knowing the password can you access the archived data, is it safe, right?!

The most popular archiving formats today are: Zip, RAR, Tar-GZip, Tar-BZip2, 7-zip.

How to use The Unarchiver archiver

1. After installation, run The Unarchiver archiver:

2. Check the boxes for at least Zip, RAR and 7-zip formats.

3. The minimum configuration of the archiver is now complete. Now, to unzip files, you just need to double-click on the archive and it will be unzipped to the same folder on the computer where the archive itself is located.