Giving Bandizip 4 stars for now, because I am not sure it is worth 5 yet. Not because I know it has some flaws or lacks something, as much as because I started using it only a couple days ago. The reason I am giving it readily already 4 stars, is because it felt to me as good as Haozip.
Throughout the years, I have had went through many different archiver tools, which I am not going to mention here, as I did not really care much for them. 7zip indeed is probably the best when it comes to simplicity and standing the test of time. It is simple, fast and does it job.
Along with it I used to use FreeArc, as Arc compressing is still up to today the best compression tool when it comes to large files (obviously not every kind) compared to other formats. For that reason after different tools I ended up using Peazip, that had a "nice UI", but also supported compressing with ARC format.
Sadly Peazip, as great as it is and "nice" it looked, if you use it for a while, it does not feel that great. Dragin and dropping straight from inside a compressed file to a folder does not seem to work that well. I hate how when you do do an action, by default it minimizes and maximizes and you definitely can not run files straight from inside the zip file, at least not if it's a program that requires all the files inside the zip, as Peazip, like 7zip, will only extract the specific file you ran in temp, but not the rest.
Now after Peazip, I went to Haozip. Unlike Peazip, it felt way more user friendly, better put together and less glitchy and not clunky at all. I have used it's v3 for years and later on a v5 that I found translated to English. It had the feature to run programs straight from within the compressed file (even if it required all the files within the compressed file) working perfectly like Winrar. Dragging and dropping felt like a smooth process and batch compressed files felt faster and better than Peazip (add each folder/file to a separatcom, compressed file). In general it was enjoyable to use.
By now though I got tired of all the chinese crapware Haozip came with. It does not even matter if all the malwarereports VirusTotal are true or not, as it actually fills up your PC either way with a load of Chinese crap, bad or not.
Here is where Bandizip came before a handful of days, with me just wanting to try it out cause I saw it on my Boss's laptop and made me curious. Bandizip actually gives me the same feeling as Haozip did, minus all the Chinese crapware! What though made me ecstatic was when I dragged an dropped a file from a folder and rather than the file being first copied to a temp file and then the Windows copy tool kick in to copy it where I dragged and dropped it, the file was copied straight where I wanted by Bandizip!
I get the feeling sooner or later I will come back here and will give it 5 stars and rather than talk about other programs, I will write my thoughts about Bandizip =D
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Still using Bandizip 6.25. I upgraded to the latest release briefly but it contains intrusive ads, so I removed it and reinstalled 6.25. Sad, really, as it's otherwise a nice application.
Bandizip has a nice, modern UI which is already a good point for some. What's more, it's extremely lightweight… but where it really shines is in its functionalities.
There are a lot of options, including the interesting Smart Extract: if there is a root folder inside the archive, it will extract directly. If there isn't, it will create a new folder. All kind of extractions have an extract and delete archive version too.
Also, Bandizip proposes an "archive preview" directly in the context menu.
All these can be added to the context menu directly, or to a submenu.
As for a more niche use, if you're often extracting archives using Asian (tried with Chinese and Japanese) symbols, Bandizip will usually extract them correctly without causing mojibake and without the need to change your system locale.
All in all, a solid app both in design and function – and free for Windows on top of that.
[Edited by Fuzen, September 09]
It's $17.99! Why is this tagged under "free," this is so stupid. But of course, it is free for people who use Windows, because f*** the Mac users am I right?
Giving Bandizip 4 stars for now, because I am not sure it is worth 5 yet. Not because I know it has some flaws or lacks something, as much as because I started using it only a couple days ago. The reason I am giving it readily already 4 stars, is because it felt to me as good as Haozip.
Throughout the years, I have had went through many different archiver tools, which I am not going to mention here, as I did not really care much for them. 7zip indeed is probably the best when it comes to simplicity and standing the test of time. It is simple, fast and does it job.
Along with it I used to use FreeArc, as Arc compressing is still up to today the best compression tool when it comes to large files (obviously not every kind) compared to other formats. For that reason after different tools I ended up using Peazip, that had a "nice UI", but also supported compressing with ARC format.
Sadly Peazip, as great as it is and "nice" it looked, if you use it for a while, it does not feel that great. Dragin and dropping straight from inside a compressed file to a folder does not seem to work that well. I hate how when you do do an action, by default it minimizes and maximizes and you definitely can not run files straight from inside the zip file, at least not if it's a program that requires all the files inside the zip, as Peazip, like 7zip, will only extract the specific file you ran in temp, but not the rest.
Now after Peazip, I went to Haozip. Unlike Peazip, it felt way more user friendly, better put together and less glitchy and not clunky at all. I have used it's v3 for years and later on a v5 that I found translated to English. It had the feature to run programs straight from within the compressed file (even if it required all the files within the compressed file) working perfectly like Winrar. Dragging and dropping felt like a smooth process and batch compressed files felt faster and better than Peazip (add each folder/file to a separatcom, compressed file). In general it was enjoyable to use.
By now though I got tired of all the chinese crapware Haozip came with. It does not even matter if all the malwarereports VirusTotal are true or not, as it actually fills up your PC either way with a load of Chinese crap, bad or not.
Here is where Bandizip came before a handful of days, with me just wanting to try it out cause I saw it on my Boss's laptop and made me curious. Bandizip actually gives me the same feeling as Haozip did, minus all the Chinese crapware! What though made me ecstatic was when I dragged an dropped a file from a folder and rather than the file being first copied to a temp file and then the Windows copy tool kick in to copy it where I dragged and dropped it, the file was copied straight where I wanted by Bandizip!
I get the feeling sooner or later I will come back here and will give it 5 stars and rather than talk about other programs, I will write my thoughts about Bandizip =D
It does the job really well, don't get me wrong. The issue is with the ads. You have to cough up 30 buck for no ads. Never download any software with ads built in ( for pc ). Use peazip if you're looking for a good UI and speed
It is the only Archive compression software I know that enables Image Preview inside the Archive file itself and enables viewing thumbnails of images inside an archive zip without decompression. I think that other software of this kind does not allows that for security reasons.
Recently installed so this is a short term review. So far...I like and approve. I have the free version and yes there are ads, but not too obnoxious ones. Works way faster and way easier to navigate than WinZip. I know 7-Zip is a free alternative without ads...but. The software is not signed and I just get uncomfortable installing software tagged "from unknown publisher" on my pc. Yes, I know 7-Zip has been around for a while and used by many but I'll keep my distance. WinZip is a mess, in my opinion, and I'll take a few ads over paying a premium for half baked software.