Considered to be the third most widely used and best reputed file compression software, PeaZip is actually at the very top of the open-source/free file compression software list. This tool can read and extract nearly all existing archive file formats and create new compressed files both in its own format (PEA) and in some of the most common ones, ZIP and 7Z included.
Why PeaZip appears below WinZip and WinRAR on the above-mentioned list is simply beyond me. Those two not only ask for a license fee to unleash their full potential, but they also lack the functionality that PeaZip offers you for free. They are all secure, efficient, and reliable, but, amazingly, some users still prefer to pay for roughly the same functions they could enjoy free of charge. If curious, you can take a look at some of the benchmark tests available, and you’ll find that PeaZip can compress and decompress a ZIP file faster than WinZip itself...
PeaZip has been around since 2006, and it is considered by experts to be the file compression tool with the best file support rate. It is, by far, the program that can read and open more archive formats – over 150, a figure that no paid or free competitor can beat. It can also create ZIP, 7Z, ARC, TAR, and WIM archives (among others), and offers you its own high-quality compression algorithm and format, PEA, with AES256 EAX authenticated encryption. All the most highly rated encryption standards are supported for 7Z, ZIP, ARC, and PEA files, and even for RAR if it happens to be installed on your system. And the great thing is that being an open-source development, PeaZip improves its numbers on every iteration, especially regarding processing speeds and RAM usage.
What I love about PeaZip is that on top of performing as the high-end compression tool that it is, it comes with a plethora of other utilities. And I’m not referring just to PeaUtils, useful as this set of tools is, but to its archive converter, its password manager, its secure random password creator, its archive analyzer, its duplicate file finder, its file splitter and joiner, etc. The list is too long to reproduce here, so – being a free tool – I’ll leave the rest for you to discover.
PeaZip is, undoubtedly, everything you need to open and create archive files with the best compression algorithms and the highest level of security. And if that is not enough to make you download and install it on your desktop, think of the wealth of other utilities and features that come with it at no cost whatsoever.
v8.9 [Oct 10, 2022]
CODE.
- Password Manager is now re-set only from Options > Settings > Privacy, Reset Password Manager link.
Various fixes and improvements.
- (Linux) correctly displays folder size inside ZIP archives if applicable.
(macOS) tool bar toggling is not needed and it is now disabled.
Cleanup of legacy code.
Improved performances and memory management for browsing archives.
Improved opening folders after task completition.
- Improved detecting root extraction directory.
- Archive conversion procedure now opens target directory only once, after final compression step.
- Task window can now show temporary extraction work path (if applicable) from context menu right-clicking on input and output links.
FILE MANAGER.
- Added progress bar while opening archive files supported through 7z backend; progress indicator is not visible when archive pre-browsing is disabled in Options > Settings > General, Performance group.
Improved Clipboard panel, can now display size and modification date of items.
Improved quick navigation menu (on the left of the Address bar).
- Can now set password/keyfile, and display if a password is set.
Can now display info on current archive / selection / clipboard content duplicating function of staus bar (so hiding status bar is now a more viable option); the new Info entry is also featured in main menu, Navigation group.
Can now toggle bookmarks, history, and clipboard views in the Status bar.
- Improved Style button.
- Right-clicking Style shows main menu as context menu.
Settings is now reachable from Style button in Tool / Address bar.
- Updated theming engine.
- Address bar color can now be changed separately from Address field color.
Tab bar color has now more options.
Improved existing Themes to take advantage of the new options.
Updated Tuxedo theme.
New Droid theme.
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EXTRACTION and ARCHIVING.
- (Linux, macOS) Changed default working directory to output path, as more consistent with behavior of similar applications on non-Windows systems.
Added context menu entry for "Add to separate archives" action, shown when applicable in file browser screen.
Improved archiving and extraction context menu, to make easier to add files and folders (or open search) from bookmarks abd history items.
Improved test after archiving.
- Empty archives are reported as warnings.
It is now possible to set the sequence of tasks to stop for auto-test results (otherwise it will stop only in case of error) from Options > Settings > Advanced.
- More information is available clicking status bar string in archive creation and extraction screens: task type details, temp work path (if applicable), input zise, output path with total size and free space.
INSTALLERS.
- (Windows) MSI installer is no longer featured.
