7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio. The good news as well is that is open source software.

That being said, why choose 7-Zip when we have WinRAR and Win Ace on the market? Because it’s a light software who does it all. It can create archives, extract in a timely manner, with an amazing result.

According to the official website, 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. And 7-Zip compresses to zip format 2-10% better than most of other zip compatible programs.

So let’s start install this software.

Running the install package, choosing the install directory and waiting a few seconds until the installation is complete is done in no time.

So let’s start see what the software can do.

If you want to create an archive, there are a lot of options to go through; all ensuring that the final result will be according to your needs, even space wise.

If you need to extract the files from an archive, the job is easy as pie. But not having to mess with a lot of option and using a clean menu, nothing can go wrong.

To effectively test the software, I was trying to create an archive from the latest version of Visual Studio Express. The picture speaks for itself. With a 95% compress ratio on an already packed package, that’s something.

And here compared to Win Ace.

You can even use the benchmark to see how the software is playing with the data.

In the end, all in all, 7 Zip is a software that does it all, and does it amazingly well and fast. And by being free, well, that’s just the cherry on the top.