One of the problems I occasionally face is dealing with the hundreds of files I have on my computer. It’s hard to keep track of all of the documents I might use for school, work, or other projects. This is particularly difficult when I want to back up my files. Another problem I have is sending files to other people. If I have a dozen files, I might have to send a dozen emails. And if one of the files is too big for their mailbox, it bounces back.
All of these problems can be solved with a compression program that will “zip” those files to one compressed folder. Windows XP has this ability built in, allowing you to compress files to a .zip format folder. But sometimes you’ll see other compressed file formats, such as .ace, .rar, or .7z. These compression formats can be a lot more efficient than the original .zip format, but they present a new problem: how are you going to open them?
Enter ALZip, one of many programs that can create several compression formats and open dozens more. ALZip isn’t unique — lots of other programs will deal with multiple compression formats. But ALZip comes out a winner because it is easy to use, unobtrusive, and (most importantly) free for personal use. Many other programs will do some of the same things, but they have annoying reminders to upgrade to the paid version or they only have a free trial period. And like all ALTools products, ALZip has an amusing egg logo that lets you know that the company doesn’t take itself too seriously.
