One of the most indispensable software tools available for Windows computers, WinRAR offers ease-of-use, considerable power and unmatched dependability. The tough little program allows you compress files into archives, cutting the combined size of the files, and gives you the ability to extract those archives to regain access to their files.

The latest version of WinRAR supports compression and extraction for both .RAR and .ZIP formats in addition to less common formats such as 7z, .CAB, .TAR, .ISO and others. It works well with Windows Explorer, so you can select a group of files and right-click them to run WinRAR's compression utility or right-click an archive to extract its files. You can handle most compression and extraction tasks from Windows Explorer, but the program's native interface is where most power users will spend the majority of their time. This interface is exceptionally easy to use and offers more than enough features for these power users.

The two main alternatives to WinRAR are WinZip and 7zip. 7zip is a freeware alternative that isn't as user friendly as either of the other two options. WinZip has been around since the early days of the Windows operating system, and while it's arguably more well-known than WinRAR, its compressed files are significantly larger. Of course, the main purpose of a compression program is to keep the combined size of your compressed files as small as possible, so WinRAR is better at accomplishing its central task.

However, WinZip is slightly faster than WinRAR. Even so, it is difficult to recommend WinZip over WinRAR due to the differences in their compression technologies. Casual computer users might not notice an discernible difference between the programs and might be more familiar and comfortable with WinZip, but power users will prefer WinRAR over its rival for 64-bit versions of Windows.