(based on 57 reviews)

PowerArchiver 11.64.01

Rated 50/50 by Skyfrog at Aug 15, 2008

"No FULL unicode support (can't handle multi-lingual characters in one file name)." I'm sure all three people that affects are really annoyed about that. I'm sure it will be fixed eventually. "Interface is too large and sluggish." Too large is a matter of opinion, too sluggish is a matter of your computer being junk. Anyway did you know you can easily switch to the classic theme? It even asks which you prefer at install and it's completely customizable. Who uses the GUI anyway, all I ever use are the explorer context menus.

Rated 30/50 by anonymouscowturd at Sep 11, 2008

Pretty capable. But only the classic interface seems usable. The other interface options look like interface hell. Still, it seems to work ok and has plenty of support for different formats. Though WinRAR still wins hands down in my opinion.

Rated 50/50 by 4122 at Sep 13, 2008

I just wanted to address a few things that have popped up in previous reviews about this fine application. Interface/GUI: People who are complaining about the ribbon interface are complaining about a non-issue since one can use the classic interface which resembles PKZip and WinRAR. While I personally dislike ribbon interfaces I think it's commendable the authors are trying to update the standard archiver interface that's become antiquated. Face it, the PKZip/WinRAR interface has remained largely unchanged since those two programs' inceptions. 7z backup features: The only thing the Pro version is charging extra for are the fancy backup features. If you check the chart comparing Standard vs. Pro 7z archive creation and extraction are supported in the Standard version. Visibility of PA2009 on the home page: I see PA 2009 mentioned right in the middle of the home page on the web site as well as in the sidebar along the left hand side. Seems visible enough for me. Bloat: PA2009 Pro loads up quicker and reacts quicker to commands than PA2007 or any previous version did which does not make it bloated in my eyes. Feature creep, however, seems to be what PA2009 (Pro) seems to be guilty of, though. Price: Definitely a matter of taste and what is too pricy for some may be a bargain to others. I will put forth, though, that if one is interested in PA2009 Standard now is the time to jump on the 15% discount. For those with an eye towards PA2009 Pro I would put forth the radical idea of buying PA2007 now at the normal price and then immediately taking advantage of the offer to upgrade from PA2007 to PA2009 Pro at the discounted price of 80% off. You'll get PA2009 Pro cheaper than buying it straight out even with the offered 15% discount. I have used PA for a long time and PA2009 has optimizations that have cemented it as my go-to archiver and I bought PA2009 Pro even though I do own a legal license for WinRAR which I won as a prize on some web site I frequent.

Rated 20/50 by DudeBoyz at Sep 25, 2008

Not much seems to have changed. It still functions well, as did RC1. That said, I want to reiterate my earlier point about 7z, and I understand and respect that others may not agree with my thoughts on this, but I do feel that my philosophy on this subject is still valid and relevant. I simply do not agree with the idea of charging money for a feature that is built upon Open Source technology. If you want to create a backup feature and charge for it, then do so by creating your own format instead of capitalizing on the efforts of the free / open source community. Such an act seems anathema to the spirit of free and open source software. That said, when I think about it, I feel perhaps it would be best if the extraction of all formats was provided for free, whether it is payware or freeware. It is more of a wish/preference I think. It may not be a practical or even logical point. But I do not like proprietary formats in general. If a user was allowed to simply decompress / decrypt the data and then use other tools of their choice to recompress / encrypt, I think that would be a good thing. For example, I would not want open source linux distributions like OpenSUSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, etc. to only be made available in a a disk image format that requires you to pay money if you want to access it. So releasing it as an ISO that can be freely processed would be preferable vs releasing it as a .DAA or .UIF which may require you to purchase an application in order to work with the free / open source files inside of that image. I think the concern I have is based on the potential for exclusivity in relation to free / open source applications. I'm perhaps not articulating the point very well today... Regardless, on the other side of things, I think if you have created a proprietary archiving / encrypting format and you wish to charge people for the ability to create archives in that format for distribution of retail software, then that would seem reasonable

Rated 40/50 by Undesired Username at Sep 25, 2008

Some aspects of the interface still don't look right on 120 DPI systems; opening archives (especially those with many files) is slower than with WinRAR; can't automatically open a new archive that has been created with the shell extension. I'm sick of the people who keep saying that all archivers should be free, just because there are some crappy freeware archivers that perform basic functions. Is it not obvious that some archivers--like PowerArchiver--go beyond "basic functions"? Is it impossible to comprehend that some people are willing to pay for a product that actually has features beyond "add" and "extract", has documentation, has real support, and has a vendor committed to further development? As a couple random examples, look at PA's preview function... I think it's really nice feature. Not an absolute requirement for an archiver, but very handy. And how about support for MSI and CHM files (via plugins)?

Rated 50/50 by MarcFou at Sep 25, 2008

PA is by far my archive application of choice. It provides the essential features you need while adding useful functionality. The FTP profiles and Backup features are excellent. The developers are pretty good about fixing reported bugs and responding to user feedback. 5 Stars all the way. I have to disagree with the review by DudeBoyz.

Rated 50/50 by slinkys_delsol at Sep 26, 2008

I have been using PA since it was Version 9 and even @ Version 11, still the best overall! I like the New Features 11 added, especially the ability to burn to CD / DVD and also the "Multiple Extraction" options! Also being a Previous Customer, upgrade only cost me $6.95... YES, SIX DOLLARS AND NINTY-FIVE CENTS! If the Software is functional to what you need and you use it regularly, then it is well worth paying for!

Rated 50/50 by FredeFup at Sep 30, 2008

One product replaces three (or more) - WinZip, WinRar and BackItUp. Works lovely integrated in both XP and Vista (Vista from version 11.00 - 2009). Makes me work almost without thinking. The functions for handling .ISO-files in version 11 is uniq. None - yet. I have been using PowerArchiver as a registrated user for more than seven years. This product is so much more than a "compression utility" - it simply does what You want to do with Your files: compress, backup and FTP, backup to CD/DVD/BD, creating and extraction of .ISO-files. PowerArchiver is the "dark horse" that the Editor and common users have overseen for at least tree years.

Rated 40/50 by dhry at Oct 4, 2008

Seems like a pretty decent program with a lot of options. Two problems for me. One, it costs money. No archiver should cost a dime. You can get free ones out there that achieve the same basic purpose - IZarc, TUGzip, JZip - and in this regard I completely agree with DudeBoyz's (who I assume is an individual rather than a group despite the pluralization of the nickname) review. Two, the original 7-zip interface produces .7z files that are smaller than the 7z system included in this program - and that's even with the so-called "optimized" 7-zip mode. Really nice try, but a version that is free for home users would have made me give this a 5. Until then, doesn't do anything I need that 7-zip classic (FREE) cannot.

Rated 50/50 by Reverb at Oct 18, 2008

Still the most flexible multi-archive product available for Windows, regardless of cost. I primarily use WinRAR - not because I am a WinRAR fanboi but because 90% of what you download from the world wild web is in RAR format. If Powerarchiver had built-in RAR compression I would ditch WinRAR but RARLabs isn't going to let that happen. I use PA primarily for ZIP/7Z/CAB which means I rarely use it anymore. The FTP feature is very nice even though I've only used it 3 times. I do see 7Zip increasing in popularity which may de-thrown RAR eventually but we'll have to wait and see. I paid for PA years ago when it was the only utility of it's kind and everything I downloaded was ZIP/ACE/ARJ/LHA/LZH/RAR. PowerArchiver may soon become obsolete since as many of you have mentioned before, there are plenty of multi archive free alternatives that accomplish the same task and ACE/ARJ/LHA/LZH/ARC are dead formats. MIME, UUE and yENC support was good back in the days but is now redundant because all popular newsreaders/mail clients have built in support for these formats.

Rated 50/50 by ninjeratu at Dec 1, 2008

Just be a bit cautious about this build if you've bought it. Some registration keys won't work and you have to reinstall an earlier build.

Rated 30/50 by Banquo at Dec 1, 2008

Very annoying backup feature creates empty folders in your My Documents folder, even if you don't use the backup feature. No way to turn it off. I hate it when programs clutter up my documents folder like that.

Rated 50/50 by cnmoore at Dec 14, 2008

"Does everything well" Interface very well thought out.: Explorer type tree displays archive contents. Preview pane for images. Compresses to tar.gz or .tar.bz2 in one operation. Progress indicators. Trouble-free and a pleasure to use. Well, after 30 days must register for $19.95. I think it's worth it though. I like everything about it. Interface, speed, status display. It even has an attractive icon.

Rated 50/50 by pjb at Mar 10, 2009

@ Banquo: I have been using this new version for a few weeks now, and I have not come across that back up folder issues as was in previous version :-) This new version is also a bit faster for me.. Nice.

Rated 40/50 by thartist at Mar 13, 2009

i hate it when they go so ridiculously far ahead in time with the years. it's so stupid and childish. i know u want to be cool and sound ahead, but cmon. 2009 has just started. there is nothing of 2010 at this time of the year, not even for a beta that will come later. idiots. aside from that, good program overall but it just never felt specially solid in any certain area. i feel it's more worried about looks than whatever else... i like winrar more.

Rated 50/50 by Fafner76 at Mar 15, 2009

Does everything I need and much more. Ppl rating it bad because of the name? LOL

Rated 30/50 by Joco at Mar 27, 2009

I use 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org) under Windows and never felt the need for an alternative. However if this same PowerArchiver was available in the Linux world then I think the success would be huge.

Rated 40/50 by userac78 at May 4, 2009

"so far so good" it works.. non i can think of i have used it a couple of times and it did wat it said it does unzip files

Rated 50/50 by sixstorm at Jun 26, 2009

"Best compression software ever!!" Awesome interface. I thought "Microsoft" would appear in the about box. Excellent usability and nice integration with Vista. The developper followed the Microsoft guidelines extremely closely. None. This software's perfect.

Rated 50/50 by ShahinD at Jul 10, 2009

The Best archiving Software with too many features.great program