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General discussionWhy is WinRAR so expensive?(161 posts)(161 posts)
(161 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 06, 2015
I use 7z too, because it can access .rar files, which a lot of Moddb`s files seem to come in, so poirfekt for me ;)
Posted September 06, 2015
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toxicTom: I guess because almost no one ever pays for it... So the few people who do have to count.

I use 7zip for everything btw. Also handles *.rar files.
^This

I sometimes feel bad for these people that made WinRAR even though I use this program to extract my files everyday. Indirect cruelty from my side. :(
Post edited September 06, 2015 by Mercset
Posted September 06, 2015
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Crosmando: Why is WinRAR so expensive?
Because they have no sense of business? Or maybe they want you to use superior free alternatives? Or they are allergic to money? Or perhaps they don't like generous people? Or etc......?
Posted September 06, 2015
It pains me to say this, but if WinRAR really is struggling in the face of competition, and if they really do have to charge so much to remain competitive, then maybe their raison d'être isn't what they thought it is. Fact is, there are free and open-source alternatives out there are do the job just as well, which means Rarlabs needs to find a way to stand out from the crowd or die through irrelevance.

I actually used WinRAR for the longest time, and I too went through the motions of wondering if I should actually buy a licence. Ultimately it was the price that drove me towards 7zip. I probably could have kept using WinRAR, but morally it would have been wrong, and 7zip is sleek and fast enough for most compression needs.
Post edited September 06, 2015 by jamyskis
Posted September 06, 2015
I just came in to bump 7zip. It has double the functions and supports many more files over winRAR.
Posted September 06, 2015
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Lifthrasil: It's so expensive to give you an incentive to use 7zip instead!
Just use 7zip, it's better in every way and free and open source.
Posted September 06, 2015
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Maighstir: <span class="bold">Win</span>Zip is still almost $40. WinZip Standard, that is, WinZip Pro is $50 and there's a WinZip Pro Combo for over $60. And I still can't see a reason to pay for a file compressor/archiver.
Not surprising... But other than offering some compression/archiving functionality, they don't offer enough features to make it worth it... :(

Now if it offered in the PRO version a driver to mount the zips/rars as though they were drives/directories and do a better job than Windows does, than maybe... just maybe...

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toxicTom: I guess because almost no one ever pays for it... So the few people who do have to count.

I use 7zip for everything btw. Also handles *.rar files.
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Mercset: ^This

I sometimes feel bad for these people that made WinRAR even though I use this program to extract my files everyday. Indirect cruelty from my side. :(
Not really indirect cruelty... Rar i always thought as a novelty, and i tried to get ahold of all the compressors and extractors i could, including formats that were long since considered abandoned (like zoo and .z).

There's a note that there's an LGPL library that does the extraction of rar files which 7zip and like programs utilize for it's extraction so they don't reverse engineer the product. But seriously, basic archiving compression and extraction isn't really a big enough feature to warrant big sales. For years and years good solid archivers have been around, although less so in the MSDOS/Windows environment, every Unix based system had ar and tar, which in my mind universally does better than anything windows put out; It's just unfortunate they never were very popular elsewhere :(
Post edited September 06, 2015 by rtcvb32
Posted September 06, 2015
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Wishbone: WinRAR? Is it 1998 again?
I also remember a WinACE fad around Y2K... am I glad LZMA came along.
Posted September 06, 2015
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Cavenagh: Use 7-zip

Easy 7-zip

http://www.e7z.org/
Oh interesting, but does it support CTRL-W?
Posted September 06, 2015
Another 7-zipper here, to recommend it.
Posted September 06, 2015
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Smannesman: Oh interesting, but does it support CTRL-W?
What's CTRL+W do?

No seriously... what's it do?
Posted September 06, 2015
I used to use IZarc, which IMO had a nice UI although it was a bit slow. Looks like the site (izarc.org) currently has an "Unwanted Software" warning on Firefox.
Posted September 06, 2015
As a long-time Amiga user, I have fond memories of LHA and LZH.
Posted September 06, 2015
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Smannesman: Oh interesting, but does it support CTRL-W?
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rtcvb32: What's CTRL+W do?

No seriously... what's it do?
*don't mind this post*
Post edited September 06, 2015 by Mercset
Posted September 06, 2015
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rtcvb32: I remember seeing licenses for zip back in 1992, and it was something akin to $40 per person. Naturally everyone used the shareware, while the full version let you do a few extra things that no one really seems to care about today (Like leaving comments that tell you things while it's extracting).
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Maighstir: <span class="bold">Win</span>Zip is still almost $40. WinZip Standard, that is, WinZip Pro is $50 and there's a WinZip Pro Combo for over $60. And I still can't see a reason to pay for a file compressor/archiver.
This Winzip thing reminded me for this, PKWares PKZIP for DOS (Standard Edition) - $47.
Of course you can find the old shareware-version pretty fast googling for it. X-)
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionWhy is WinRAR so expensive?(161 posts)(161 posts)
(161 posts)