# WinRar - what is it and how do you use it\> **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081 "2012-01-29T13:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/21 "2012-01-30T16:04:06Z")
Out of wonder, how does .rar compare to 7z and .tgz/tar.gz (and tar.bz etc)? Since the discussion is drifting towards compression formats anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/22 "2012-01-30T22:39:41Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Out of wonder, how does .rar compare to 7z and .tgz/tar.gz (and tar.bz etc)? Since the discussion is drifting towards compression formats anyway… My personal opinion is that if you use anything other than .zip I hate you. Ok, sorry, that was too extreme, but it is very, very, very annoying to have to download 7zip, install it, just because some guy who create a Skyrim mod that smooths out the face of your Khajiit happened to prefer .7z for some ungodly reason. Why wouldn’t he just use .zip? Which the OS supports natively? Just to annoy me? In short: use the standard. Even if it’s slightly less efficient. Your goal is to get the files to the end-user, the end-user will love you if you use the standard they already have software for. Extra super bonus points goes to the mod site that stored the mods in a .7z file which was \*inside \*a .zip file. So you take a look at the file extension, say, “oh finally a site that uses .zip for Skyrim mods!” then oops! Turns out you need 7zip anyway, sucker. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/23 "2012-01-30T23:01:16Z")
If you want to embed the packing and unpacking of files into a custom application, the command line interface of winrar is superior. It’s higher compression ratio compared to zip is still useful as many email systems have size limitations on attachments. ---
**Author:** ![mbetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@mbetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbetter)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/24 "2012-01-31T03:46:33Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > My personal opinion is that if you use anything other than .zip I hate you. > > Ok, sorry, that was too extreme, but it is very, very, very annoying to have to download 7zip, install it, just because some guy who create a Skyrim mod that smooths out the face of your Khajiit happened to prefer .7z for some ungodly reason. Why wouldn’t he just use .zip? Which the OS supports natively? Just to annoy me? > > In short: use the standard. Even if it’s slightly less efficient. Your goal is to get the files to the end-user, the end-user will love you if you use the standard they already have software for. > > Extra super bonus points goes to the mod site that stored the mods in a .7z file which was \*inside \*a .zip file. So you take a look at the file extension, say, “oh finally a site that uses .zip for Skyrim mods!” then oops! Turns out you need 7zip anyway, sucker. I think that the main Skyrim mod manager is built around .7z packages. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/25 "2012-01-31T05:45:27Z")
I have yet to encounter a compressed file WinRAR couldn’t open. It’s the VLC of decompressors. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/26 "2012-01-31T13:45:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I have yet to encounter a compressed file WinRAR couldn’t open. It’s the VLC of decompressors. And I have yet to encounter one 7zip cannot open. Since both 7zip and VLC are free, and winrar isn’t, that is a better analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/27 "2012-02-01T04:01:08Z")
Who da thunk rar was considered “exotic”… reminds me of those who couldn’t play XviD years after it became standard practice. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/28 "2012-02-01T06:54:00Z")
**srzss05** , I’ve been downloading and installing WinRAR on most every machine I’ve used for years, most recently about a month ago. I’ve never encountered a version that does what you describe. Granted, I pretty much never launch the actual program — I just use the context menus — but I’ve never once had it demand money. Not saying you’re wrong; there’s no reason you’d say yours did that if it didn’t, but I’m genuinely curious about the behavior you’re describing. Do you think you could take a screenshot of what happens when you right-click and try to unpack a RAR? ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081/29 "2012-02-01T12:01:22Z")
> [@Roland\_Orzabal](#): > > Do you think you could take a screenshot of what happens when you right-click and try to unpack a RAR? No, because I no longer have the program. The website says it costs money, the OP says it costs money. Other people in this thread say (with older versions) that they get a nag screen but can still use the program. There is no mention of money on 7zip’s site at all. Why use a program that asks for money to **UNPACK** a file when other programs do the same thing for free? Also, even if I still had the program, I couldn’t upload a screenshot as I don’t have any online accounts for that, and wouldn’t create one just for this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winrar-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it/611081.md?page=1)