Description:
StuffIt 5.5 is a multifaceted compression utility that supports its native compression format, SIT, and just about every other format you can think of, including ZIP, CAB, ARC, TAR, TGZ, LZH, Z, and more. Like most compression suites, it integrates itself into the Windows interface and allows you to access its functions by double-clicking on associated files or by right-clicking on archives in Windows Explorer. There's plenty more to it than that, though: The program seems dedicated to offering as many alternate ways as possible to accomplish everything it's capable of doing. The central application in the StuffIt 5.5 suite, StuffIt Browser, looks and acts almost exactly like Windows Explorer. It even allows you to perform simple tasks like moving, copying, renaming, and deleting files of any type, regardless of whether they're in an archive. The handy interface lets you browse seamlessly through compressed archives as you would any ordinary file folder. Expanding one or more archived files is as intuitive as dragging them into their target directory, or double-clicking on the archive to expand it into its default location. The right-click context menu offers more options, letting you view, make copies of, choose the destination of, and further manipulate compressed files. Creating archives, including self-extracting ZIP files, is equally intuitive. StuffIt includes a trio of drag-and-drop applets that make creation, expansion, and even distribution of archives into one-step processes. Dragging an archive onto Aladdin Expander will present you with dialog asking you to choose the destination for its contents. Conversely, dragging files onto DropStuff or DropZip is a one-step method of creating a SIT or ZIP archive, respectively. The little applets even allow you to compress files into archives and then e-mail them or send them to removable media with just a couple of clicks. StuffIt 5.5 is as fast and efficient as it is convenient. Its SIT format may never replace ZIP as the most ubiquitous file compression format in existence, but maybe it should. In testing, we created a number of identical ZIP and SIT archives consisting of vast combinations of files including images (.TIF, .BMP, .JPG), audio files (.WAV, .MID, .MP3), Microsoft office files (.DOC, .XLS, .PPT), random goodies like DLLs, applications and drivers, and so on. In each case, StuffIt SIT files were anywhere from 5 to 20 percent smaller than ZIP files created both with WinZip and StuffIt. SIT files did take longer to create, but they expanded more quickly than ZIP files. StuffIt 5.5 is a fast, convenient, and versatile compression utility ideal for casual and power users alike. --Joel Durham Jr.
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