7-Zip is an open-source file archiver with a high compression ratio predominantly for the Microsoft Windows operating system.
It operates as a command line software or with a graphical user interface. It also features integration with the Windows shell environment.
Compression ratio results are very dependent upon the data used for the tests. Usually, 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. It compresses to zip format 2-10% better than most other zip-compatible software.
7-Zip is free software, developed by Igor Pavlov and distributed under the GNU LGPL license. This file archiver works on all Windows operating systems, from Windows NT to 10 (32-bit and 64-bit).
7-Zip main features:
- High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression and LZMA2 compression
- For ZIP and GZIP formats, the provided compression ratio is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
- Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Powerful command line version
- Plugin for FAR Manager
- Localizations for 87 languages
- Supported formats:
- Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
- Unpacking only: AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z.
Changes in 7-Zip 24.08 :
- The bug in version 24.00-24.07 was fixed:
- For creating a zip archive: The app could write extra zero bytes after the end of the archive if a file included in the archive cannot be compressed to a size smaller than the original.
- The created zip archive is correct except for the useless zero bytes after the end of the archive.
- When unpacking such a zip archive, the app displays a warning:
- “WARNING: There are data after the end of archive”.
- The bug was fixed: there was a leak of GDI objects (internal resources in Windows) in the “Confirm File Replace” window, causing problems after 1600 displays of the “Confirm File Replace” window from the same running 7-Zip process.
- Some optimizations for displaying file icons in the app File Manager and in the “Confirm File Replace” window.
- Some bugs were fixed.
Supported Operating Systems:
- Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 (32-bit, 64-bit).
- Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019.
