Many people, when transferring files from one computer to another, or sending a friend or family member a set of photos, want to be as efficient as possible, both to save time as well as space. One of the means of doing this (and especially effective with office documents), is to compress the files. The most popular method of compressing files in the Windows world (and becoming the standard for Macs as well, although Stuffit’s .sit file is still popular), is to zip them. Years ago, zipping a collection of files meant having to find a program to perform this task, and often another one to unzip the zip files.
No more. Mac OS X actually includes the ability to zip and unzip files (via a program named BOMArchiveHelper), and new Macs also include Stuffit Expander. The addition of these two programs is very important, in my mind, as it shows that Apple is willing to make is simple for Mac users to interact with their far more numerous coworkers and friends using Windows.
Unfortunately, the solutions included by Apple, while adequate, aren’t exactly up to the task in my mind. For one, while it’s incredibly simple to create an archive out of a folder, or a bunch of folders (simply by highlighting what you want to save, right-clicking and choosing the Create Archive option), and it’s also insanely easy to unzip an archived file (double-click on it, which should use Apple’s BOMArchiveHelper by default, or else right-click and choose Stuffit Expander), there are some features missing.
Fortunately, there is a great shareware program out there, called BetterZip, which truly is what its name would imply – a better way to zip (and unzip), your files.
The first big feature I see missing from OS X by default (and a feature that BetterZip performs quite easily) is the ability, once a collection of files has been zipped, is to add another to the archive. With Mac OSX, whether using BOMArchiveHelper or Stuffit Expander, you are out of luck. BOMArchiveHelper, while it is able to both zip and unzip files, is unable to do anything but that. And Stuffit Expander, as the name would imply, can simply unzip files. If you want more features from Stuffit, you would need to purchase Stuffit Deluxe, which does include both zipping and unzipping abilities (and a whole lot more, although in my mind the program, while full of great features, is a bit pricey for what it does).
BetterZip, on the other hand, does this with ease. Instead of double-clicking on the archive you wish to view, simply right-click and choose to Open With BetterZip. In seconds, you will be presented with a Finder-like window, showing the complete contents of your zipped archive. While in this view, you simply drag any additional files, programs, or folders you wish to add to the archive, and they are immediately added. When you’re done, simply re-save the archive, and it will now include your additions. In this same view you can also add empty folders, so that if your archive started out as one large collection, you can better organize it as well as add items. Of course, you can also subtract items too.
BetterZip is also better, in my opinion, as it allows users to be more flexible in how they access their archived materials. As an example, let’s say that I saved every article I’d ever written for Associated Content. Each time I write a new one, I use BetterZip to add it to my existing article archive. But what if, for some reason, I needed to get at an original copy of an article I wrote six months ago? Using BOMArchiveHelper or Stuffit Expander, I would have to wait until hundreds of articles were expanded, and then search through them. With BetterZip, on the other hand, I can expand only what I want out of the zipped archive. Again, simply right-click on the archive, and wait for BetterZip to show you its contents. When you have spotted the file (or files), that you wish to expand, simply highlight them. If you only highlight a few items, you’ll notice that the “Extract All” button changes to say “Extract,” because BetterZip has recognized that you don’t want the entire archive. Click that button, and in seconds you’ll have the items you want – and only the items you want.
But BetterZip doesn’t just deal with zip files. No, there is a huge list of supported compression types that BetterZip can handle, at least to a certain extent. If you want to save your archive as something other than zip, BetterZip can also compress to TAR (uncompressed or GZip/BZip2 compressed), as well as 7-Zip. And, if you’ve purchased a license for RAR, then BetterZip can also compress your files using that. Even without the RAR license, BetterZip is able to expand RAR files… and 22 other formats, including Zip, Sit, ARJ, CAB, ISO disc images and many other formats more common in Windows and Linux.
In my view, BetterZip is a great deal. Its license costs 20 dollars, which is 20 dollars more than you need to spend, I suppose, but that 20 dollars is far less than you’d spend for a Stuffit Deluxe license, and is well worth it in my book. You can download BetterZip from its website, as well as purchase a license if you wish. BetterZip comes with a full 30-day trial.
