WinRAR
Encyclopedia
WinRAR is a shareware
file archiver
and data compression
utility developed by Eugene Roshal
, and first released in autumn of 1993. It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR
archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary
.
Version 2.00 was released on September 6, 1996.
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
file archiver
File archiver
A file archiver is a computer program that combines a number of files together into one archive file, or a series of archive files, for easier transportation or storage...
and data compression
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
utility developed by Eugene Roshal
Eugene Roshal
Eugene Roshal is a Russian software engineer best known as developer of:* FAR file manager * RAR file format * WinRAR file archiver...
, and first released in autumn of 1993. It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR
RAR (file format)
RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. It is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning...
archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
.
Developer
The current developer is Eugene Roshal, while his brother Alexander Roshal is engaged in running the business behind the software.Features
WinRAR supports the following features:- Complete support for RARRAR (file format)RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. It is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning...
(WinRAR native conversion format) and ZIP archives, and unpacking of ARJARJARJ is a software tool designed by Robert K. Jung for creating high-efficiency compressed file archives. ARJ is currently on version 2.85 for DOS and 3.15 for Windows and supports 16-bit and 32-bit Intel architectures.ARJ was one of two mainstream archivers for DOS and Windows during early and...
, LZH, TARTar (file format)In computing, tar is both a file format and the name of a program used to handle such files...
, GZGzipGzip is any of several software applications used for file compression and decompression. The term usually refers to the GNU Project's implementation, "gzip" standing for GNU zip. It is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of Lempel-Ziv and Huffman coding...
, ACEACE (file format)In computing, ACE is a proprietary data compression archive file format developed by Marcel Lemke, and later bought by e-merge GmbH. The peak of its popularity was 1999—2001, when it provided slightly better compression rates than RAR, which has since become more popular.-WinAce:WinAce, maintained...
, UUEUuencodeUuencoding is a form of binary-to-text encoding that originated in the Unix program uuencode, for encoding binary data for transmission over the uucp mail system.The name "uuencoding" is derived from "Unix-to-Unix encoding"...
, BZ2Bzip2bzip2 is a free and open source implementation of the Burrows–Wheeler algorithm. It is developed and maintained by Julian Seward. Seward made the first public release of bzip2, version 0.15, in July 1996.-Compression efficiency:...
, JARJAR (file format)In software, JAR is an archive file format typically used to aggregate many Java class files and associated metadata and resources into one file to distribute application software or libraries on the Java platform.JAR files are built on the ZIP file format and have the .jar file extension...
, ISOISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
, EXEExecutableIn computing, an executable file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a data file that must be parsed by a program to be meaningful. These instructions are traditionally machine code instructions for a physical CPU...
, 7z7z7z is a compressed archive file format that supports several different data compression, encryption and pre-processing algorithms. The 7z format initially appeared as implemented by the 7-Zip archiver. The 7-Zip program is publicly available under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public...
, and Z archives. - Multithreaded compression
- The ability to create self-extractingSelf-extracting archiveA self-extracting archive is a computer application which contains a file archive, as well as programming to extract this information. Such file archives do not require a second executable file or program to extract from the archive, as archive files usually require...
and multi-volumeVolume (compression)A volume is a term in data compression for a file that has been compressed and split into different parts.There are many advantages in having a compression utility with the ability for compression into volumes. First, it allows an individual to download the file in segments at his or her own pace...
(split) archives. - Data redundancyRedundancy (information theory)Redundancy in information theory is the number of bits used to transmit a message minus the number of bits of actual information in the message. Informally, it is the amount of wasted "space" used to transmit certain data...
is provided via recovery records and recovery volumes, allowing reconstruction of damaged archives. - Support for advanced NTFSNTFSNTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
file system options and UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
in file names. - Optional archive encryptionEncryptionIn cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
using AESAdvanced Encryption StandardAdvanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
(Advanced Encryption Standard) with a 128-bit key.
Version history
Below is a summary of version information.Version 2.00 was released on September 6, 1996.
- Since version 2.90, the new RAR3 archive formatArchive formatAn archive format is the file format of an archive file. The archive format is determined by the file archiver. Some archive formats are well-defined by their authors and have become conventions supported by multiple vendors and/or open-source communities....
is implemented. The new compressed archives cannot be managed by old versions of WinRAR. - Since version 3.50, WinRAR adds support for interface skinsSkin (computing)In computing, a skin is a custom graphical appearance achieved by the use of a graphical user interface that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users....
and themesTheme (computing)In computing, a theme is a preset package containing graphical appearance details, used to customize the look and feel of an operating system, widget set or window manager....
and support Windows XP x64. - Since version 3.60, WinRAR includes a multithreadedThread (computer science)In computer science, a thread of execution is the smallest unit of processing that can be scheduled by an operating system. The implementation of threads and processes differs from one operating system to another, but in most cases, a thread is contained inside a process...
version of the compression algorithm, which improves compression speed on systems with multipleSymmetric multiprocessingIn computing, symmetric multiprocessing involves a multiprocessor computer hardware architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory and are controlled by a single OS instance. Most common multiprocessor systems today use an SMP architecture...
, dual-core, or Hyper-threadingHyper-threadingHyper-threading is Intel's term for its simultaneous multithreading implementation in its Atom, Intel Core i3/i5/i7, Itanium, Pentium 4 and Xeon CPUs....
-enabled CPUsCentral processing unitThe central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
. - Since version 3.70, WinRAR features support for Windows VistaWindows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
. - Since version 3.80, support for ZIP archives, which contain UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
file names in UTF-8UTF-8UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
. - Since version 3.90, WinRAR adds support Windows x64 natively and support Windows 7. Also it enhanced support for multithreading
- Version 4.00 speeds up decompression by up to 30%. Windows 98Windows 98Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
, Windows MeWindows MeWindows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, and Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
are no longer supported; the minimum Windows version required is Windows 2000Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
.
Awards
- WinRAR has been nominated for the Epsilon Award 2008Epsilon AwardThe Epsilon Award is an award bestowed each year by the European Software Conference for software applications, particularly shareware with €500,000 prize money. The 2011 Epsilon Award will be held in London on November 19 and 20, 2011. Votes are accepted until October 27, 2011.- Winners :...
. Later it became the winner of the award at the eighth annual European Software Conference.