compression and decompression utility

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hi

I am searching for a univeral app that compress and decompress files, and if it possible to be freeware would be great

thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    MacOS X includes a zip facility built into the Finder. Click on an object or objects. Within the Finder, go to File/Create Archive of "{object}" to compress the object(s). To decompress, simply double-click a .zip archive. I strongly recommend the Stuffit Deluxe 10 suite. At very least, get the free Stuffit Expander decompression utility.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    No, don't. Just use zip.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R


    No, don't. Just use zip.



    The MacOS X zip facility does zip exclusively. Stuffit does everything. If you receive a .sit file, you are SOL without it.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me


    The MacOS X zip facility does zip exclusively. Stuffit does everything. If you receive a .sit file, you are SOL without it.



    Actually, BOMArchiveHelper does a lot more than just zip, but you're correct in that it doesn't support sit.



    Still, your recommendation for people to buy StuffIt Deluxe baffles me. Download the free StuffIt Expander for the rare case where some idiot still uses sit, sure, but other than that?
  • Reply 5 of 10
    Using the free version of Stuffit 10, though, be sure to read the ReadMe file. They include a warning about what format to use, saying something like: Trust us, don't do it. Sorry I can't remember the specifics.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker


    ... Download the free StuffIt Expander for the rare case where some idiot still uses sit, sure, but other than that?



    Not all of us switched to the Mac last week. A lot of very intelligent people still use files that have been archived with Stuffit. A lot of very smart developers ship their software compressed with Stuffit still. If Stuffit Expander satisfies your Stuffit needs, great. If you don't need Stuffit Deluxe, don't buy it. I won't tell.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me


    Not all of us switched to the Mac last week. A lot of very intelligent people still use files that have been archived with Stuffit. A lot of very smart developers ship their software compressed with Stuffit still. If Stuffit Expander satisfies your Stuffit needs, great. If you don't need Stuffit Deluxe, don't buy it. I won't tell.



    You still haven't given a good reason of why someone should compress something with StuffIt these days.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    Don't use StuffIt. ZIP compresses faster and more tightly, for free, on Mac that's even remotely up-to-date.



    Also, no one intelligent still uses it.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gregmightdothat


    Don't use StuffIt. ZIP compresses faster and more tightly, for free, on Mac that's even remotely up-to-date.



    Also, no one intelligent still uses it.



    There are several valid reasons for using ZIP compression. However, tighter compression is not one of them. One of the reasons that ZIP is slightly faster is that it is slightly looser. On today's computers with massive hard drives and fast broadband connections, tight compression is not nearly as important as it used to be. However, when you need the tightest compression available, Stuffit beats ZIP.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    When you need tight compression, you use bzip2, 7zip, rzip or similar.
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