Does Anybody Use ZIP Files Anymore?

A small bit of computer history to start this one off:

In the B.I. (Before Internet) computer era, the way people uploaded and downloaded files over long distances was via their local BBS. Being that file transfers were mind numbingly slow (the download of a 1MB file over a 14.4kbit/s connection took 10 minutes), compressed archive files were very popular, with the most popular being ZIP. The ZIP format is still the most recognized archive file type even today.

Fast forward to present.

From a technical point of view, a compressed archive is worthless given the fact that most of the files we used are already compressed. Instead of the uncompressed BMP, WAV and AVI files we used to use, now we use JPG, MP3 and WMV. Putting any of the modern file formats we use into a compressed archive doesn’t make them smaller. Not by much, anyway.

From a practical point of view however, using ZIP still has a few perks to it.

ZIP is the easiest way to put a collection of files into a single file.

Whether you choose to use file compression or not with ZIP, its ability to make a collection of files is darned convenient.

Not that you would do so, but if you had to send 50 JPG photos in email to somebody, it’s a lot easier to attach one ZIP instead of 50 individual file attachments.

ZIP is the easiest way to transfer data across the internet securely in email.

Email by nature is insecure. If there’s something you have to send in email that contains sensitive information, using a freebie app like 7-Zip to create a ZIP with password protection and AES-256 file encryption is better than, well.. nothing.

ZIP is the easiest way to break apart large files.

Using the freebie 7-Zip again, if you have files that are so large they need to be broken up for whatever reason (such as storing to CD or DVD), ZIP can do it:

(Note: Custom volume sizes can be used. If you wanted 5MB a piece for sending email file attachments, you would enter 5M in the example above.)

WinZIP is a relatively inexpensive means for a reliable backup with some pretty cool and useful options.

Remember WinZIP? You probably do. They’re up to version 14.5 now and have been programming up some good stuff including a Backup Edition that has automated functionality. You can use WinZIP to send files via FTP on its own per your instructions. Heck, it will even email you a log file every time it does it. Or you can forego the FTP stuff altogether and just have WinZIP transmit backups via just email. Useful? You bet. Worth the $40 price tag? That’s up to you to decide.

ZIP is still necessary to send stuff to those with slow broadband connections.

Not everybody has a good broadband connection, and you may know of a few folks where their broadband makes dialup look speedy.

For the files you can compress easily, such as documents and spreadsheets, ZIP matters. A lot. It’s the difference between a 500k and a 100k document in some instances. Being that Windows from XP to present has the ability to open ZIPs without any additional software required, the files you send to those with snail-speed broadband will be sure to appreciate it.

Some final notes on ZIP files:

Is the threat of viruses in ZIPs as big as it used to be?

There was a time when absolutely nobody would even touch a ZIP attachment in their email, and for good reason because spammers routinely used the archive format to infect PCs – and many still do. However this was in the days when virus scanners were mediocre at best at scanning a ZIP attachment.

Virus scanners are a lot smarter now, and when they see a ZIP attachment in email, they go after it with a vengeance to make sure the contents within are clean.

To the best of my knowledge, all webmail providers also rigorously scan ZIPs for viruses as well.

If you’re of the opinion, “I will never ever open a ZIP attachment from an email”, I won’t argue with that because most people got their first virus from a ZIP email file attachment.

The safest course of action when you receive a ZIP attachment from an unknown contact is obviously to not open it. However if it’s something you feel you might want to see, send it to the sandbox first. There are several sandboxes to choose from, so pick whatever works best for you.

Is 7z the new ZIP standard?

I’m noticing more often that people (particularly open source programmers) are distributing files in the 7z archive format rather than ZIP. 7z is the default format used by 7-Zip, and it is popular enough to where paid utilities like WinZIP do have support for them.

If you bounce between OSes a lot, you’ll get along much better with 7z compared to ZIP being that it operates flawlessly on Windows, OS X or Linux. You’ll also appreciate the fact that 7-Zip will also run on vintage OSes as well such as BeOS, DOS and even Amiga.

The Big Question: Do you use ZIP?

Personally, I do mainly for creating file collections and breaking up larger files. And if more people knew about the 7z archive format I would drop using ZIP altogether when sending files.

Do you use ZIP?