


Built-in PC performance test (same as in 7-ZIP).Easy search with many conditions and filters, and an option to search for duplicates.Built-in password and key file manager.Create and open archives through the program interface or directly in Windows Explorer using the context menu commands.It can open files with the ACE, ARJ, CAB, CHM, MSI, DOC, PPT, XLS, CPIO, DEB, ISO, JAR, EAR, WAR, LZH, LZMA, NSIS extensions,, PET/PUP, PAK/PK3/PK4, RAR, SMZIP, RPM, U3P, XPI, Z, ZIPX and other formats. It can compress files into its own PEA format as well as 7Z (regular and self-extracting), BZip2, GZip, ARC (regular and self-extracting), QUAD/BALZ/BCM, TAR, UPX, WIM, XZ, PAQ, and ZIP. The PeaZip archiver works with a very large number of formats. The program interface is entirely in English, but Spanish, German, French and other versions are also available (can be changed in the settings). During the installation, you can configure your PC’s file associations with the archiver and select archive actions to be embedded in Windows Explorer. It is a great upgrade from 7-zip for those who want a change.PeaZip contains no ads and the installation process is also free of any promotional offers. But, I think PeaZip is not meant to be a Pro Archiver, but one for beginners and intermediate users. The other advance users who are looking for the tools not offered by PeaZip may have to buy a Pro Zip software. Overall PeaZip is enough for the common user who just wants to compress and extract archives, and may have more than enough tools for them. I also notice that PeaZip is a bit slow when opening up an archive, about 1-2 seconds slower than 7-zip, but this is just being picky. The only downside of PeaZip are that some other tools are missing such as email, uploading and repair archive. The toolbar looks nice with buttons for the common functions. The layout is easy to understand and can be changed. It also has a variety of tools splitjoin, secure password, scheduler, ChecksumHash check, CRC check, convert archive, secure delete and more. It claims to support opening 150+ extensions and can compress to all the common type archives, mainly 7-zip, ZIP, ARC, TAR, ISO, but of course not RAR. PeaZip is probably the only open-source alternative to 7-zip that is worth using. Since 7-zip has not been updated recently(last stable:2010), I wanted to change to a new zip/compress tool.
