Re: 7-ZIP for Mac OSX ???

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

magnusfalkirk <dean.phares@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Jun 29, 10:24 pm, mdj <mdj....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > What's wrong with plain old Zip ? Works everywhere, doesn't require me
> > to download extra tools.
> >
> > And no, I don't care if <insert whiz-bang new tool> get's 2-3% better
> > compression. Wake me up when it's 25-50%
> >
> > Not wanting to complain, mind. Just think it's easier to stick with
> > simple.
> 
> Last time I checked Zip only worked under Windows, there isn't a
> version of it for Mac.

You can't have checked very recently, or you are only thinking of Mac OS
9 and earlier.

Others have posted references to the command line zip/unzip tools, which
have always been in Mac OS X.

Recent versions of Mac OS X (definitely 10.4, possibly earlier) have an
archive utility which expands most compressed file formats (including
.zip) simply by double-clicking them in Finder. There is also a
"Compress" menu command in Finder which creates a .zip file, so Zip is
the default archive format for Mac OS X.

10.4 dates back to April 2005.

> So either Unarchiver, or Stuffit for Mac are required to open this archive
> on a Mac. Unless you've got a old copy of Zipit for the Mac that works
> under Classic.

Stuffit is a dead duck. Hardly anyone running Mac OS X uses it any more,
and the expander hasn't been preinstalled for many years. Smith Micro
(or whoever owns it now) has a somewhat obnoxious set of hoops you have
to jump through just to download the free expander.

The various Stuffit Deluxe "system extensions" (such as creating an
archive by simply renaming a file) have a tendency for compatibility
problems with new system versions, so I'm very happy to keep them as far
away from my computer as possible.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz