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PowerZip v5.2
Reviewed
by: Howard
Carson
Published
by: Trident
Software
Requires: Requires:
Windows 98 through XP; 16MB RAM recommended, 5MB free disk
space
MSRP: US$20
single user (volume and academic license discounts available)
PowerZip
is a feature-rich archiving, compression, decompression
program and shell for Windows 98 through XP. PowerZip is
a direct competitor to WinZip (from Niko Mak Computing
- now WinZip Computing) and the top-rated ZipMagic 2000
(from Mijenix Corporation - now V-COM). PowerZip supports
the ZIP, ARJ, RAR, ACE, CAB, TAR, GZ, HA, Z, and LZH archive
formats. The software combines a convenient, intuitive
user interface with flexibility and advanced options such
as ZIP encryption (password protected ZIP files), ZIP comments,
and multi- disk ZIP support.
PowerZip
was tested on two computers: a PII/350MHz with 128MB RAM
running Windows 98SE, and an older Dell Dimension XPS P166s
with 64MB RAM running Windows 95b. Installation was flawless
on both machines. Basic tests of PowerZip included compression
and decompression speed comparisons with WinZip and ZipMagic
2000, as well as ZIP, CAB, TAR, and Z file compatibility.
PowerZip's
speed test results were competitive - barely. Have a look
at these comparisons:
- 16
files (EXE, ZIP, and TXT) PowerZip timing = 20 seconds
to create a 12.2MB ZIP WinZip timing = 14 seconds to
create a 12.0MB ZIP
- 184
files (EXE, ZIP, and TXT, some in sub folders) PowerZip
timing = 140 seconds to create a 95.7MB ZIP WinZip timing
= 90 seconds to create a 93.4MB ZIP
- 240
files (TXT, DOC, Quark, BMP, etc.) PowerZip timing =
115 seconds to create a 50.1MB ZIP WinZip timing = 120
seconds to create a 49.9MB ZIP
Note
that PowerZip did not do anywhere near as well as WinZip
timing-wise, when archiving already compressed files. PowerZip
was WinZip's equal at archiving uncompressed data however.
It provides similar results with CAB files (although WinZip
can't create CAB files; it only reads and decompresses
them). We used WinZip and ZipMagic 2000 to decompress ZIPs
created with PowerZip (and vice- versa). There were no
problems or incompatibilities.
PowerZip
provides an option which registers it to handle its archive
formats within Windows, to extract files from within Windows
Explorer. It also adds a selection to Explorer's context
menu for automatically extracting the contents of an archive
to a new folder. PowerZip acts as a GUI shell for a variety
of command-line programs which handle other compression
formats (separate LHA, ARJ, and HA executables are required
for LHA/LZH, ARJ, and HA compressed formats respectively).
PowerZip can create Win32 and MS-DOS self-extracting ZIP
files, which makes it a good utility for assembling distributable
ZIPs. You can create both 16 and 32-bit files, select a
default unZIP path, add comments, and run a program or
display a file once the operation is complete. Other features
include multiple disk spanning (e.g.: creating a 250MB
archive stored on 3 Iomega Zip disks), encryption, and
password protection.
Cons: PowerZip
does not store file size data accurately - its ZIP files
are sometimes read incorrectly by Windows Explorer (a 50MB
test ZIP created with PowerZip and consisting of DOC, TXT,
Quark, and other data files was reported as 18.MB in Explorer,
while the identical ZIP created with WinZip was reported
accurately). This is a serious bug because it provides
users with inaccurate, favorably smaller file size data.
We also found a bug when creating new test archives - drag & drop
worked perfectly, but using the normal file selector dialog
to select more than about 30 files/folders at a time always
turned up a "Cannot read file" error. The UI
is easier to use than WinZip (the New and Add archive functions
in WinZip often confuse users), but PowerZip could still
use tweaks in the Settings dialog (context sensitive Help
would solve the problem for users unfamiliar with many
terms used in both PowerZip and WinZip). Utility software
makers could also take a hint from Adaptec (and others)
that use long ToolTips or Guide text in the UI, rather
than full blown Help files or Microsoft's 'What's This?'
context Help. There's no support for UUencode or UUdecode
which is a drawback for Usenet fans. No support for MIME
and BinHex files (which is a problem if you regularly receive
e-mailed files from Lotus Notes or Mac users). In Online
Help the ARJ file link to the University of Oakland's FTP
server is no longer accurate. Use the following FTP link
instead: <ftp://oak.oakland.edu/ pub/ simtelnet/msdos/
arcers/arj260x.exe> (remove the angle brackets and extra
spaces).
Pros: Very
easy to use. Trident Software provides an easy to access
bug report page and form on its Web site, as well as
the usual Suggestions page. Immediate online support
is also available through Frequently Asked Question files
(FAQs). Single user licenses for PowerZip are US$9 less
than WinZip and nearly US$20 less than ZipMagic 2000.
PowerZip appears to match WinZip feature for feature
and is slightly easier to use too, although it doesn't
achieve the overall speed of WinZip or the speed, huge
feature count and usability of ZipMagic 2000. PowerZip
is reliable and comparatively inexpensive and is recommended
for anyone who has occasional use for a solid archiving
utility.
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