Nowadays, when there are numerous compression tools on the market, the choice of the perfect tool for you depends on your priorities, such as available encryption suite, compression speed or the power of compression.
PowerArchiver is a compression tool that embeds every important feature that such a program must have.
The first interaction with the program offers you a nice looking interface, one that is highly customizable, and which is very responsive to commands.
Visually, what I enjoyed the most was the multitude of skin theme options.
When it comes to available features, PowerArchiver combines many useful tools in one single package.
The program toolbox offers support for over 60 compression file formats, such as zip, zipx, 7z, iso, rar or OpenPGP, and the ZIP/ZIPX engine is faster than ever.
Moreover, it has FIPS 140-2 validated encryption built in, and it's compatible with
WinZip, SecureZIP, and PA format.
Another included features are a Virtual ISO Drive, that mounts ISO images, a Data burner, and support for cloud sharing services, for six of them software installation not being needed.
In conclusion, PowerArchiver is a rich-feature compression tool, has a reasonable price, but seems more intended for business users because of its high use of system resources and complex customization options.
v14.0 [Jun 28, 2013]
- Full OpenPGP support via Encryption Suite – Full support for OpenPGP format. From encrypting/decrypting files to creating/importing/exporting OpenPGP keys. PowerArchiver can encrypt any archive with OpenPGP format and then Add/Delete/Edit files inside transparently, without need to go through several steps as with competing products.
- Encryption Suite – Encryption Suite – application designed to make process of Encrypting and Decrypting your files easier. You can use 4 different formats – ZIP/ZIPX, OpenPGP, PAE and 7-zip, all with AES 256 bit encryption. FIPS 140-2 certified for use in U.S. Government. Encryption Suite is designed to support encrypting/decrypting hundreds of files at the same time. Full support for all of PowerArchiver security features such as Password Manager, Password Policies and Password Profiles.
- PowerArchiver Cloud – PowerArchiver Cloud can Download/Upload/Add files/archives from following business/SOHO cloud services: Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure; consumer level cloud services like: Dropbox, Google Drive, Box.net, Microsoft SkyDrive as well as our own experimental AttachmentCloud service.
- More Advanced Modern/Ribbon Interface – New Windows 8/Office 2013 inspired skin makes PowerArchiver interface look stunning, while making it easier to use. Truly best of both worlds. Classic toolbar option still remains, now with improved loading speed.
- RAR 5 format support – PowerArchiver can open and extract RAR 5.x files. Of course, you can even create/edit them if you configure rar.exe to be used within PowerArchiver!
- Significantly Faster ZIP engine – Our advanced multi-core ZIP/ZIPX engine has been optimized for maximum speed, now up to 30-50% faster than WinZip’s multi-core engine (and much much faster than SecureZIP’s and WinRAR’s ZIP engines), while providing similar compressing strength.
- Power saving mode for ZIP engine – ZIP/ZIPX engine has been optimized to spend less CPU power when your laptop is in power saving mode. PowerArchiver will take up significantly less CPU when you have power saving mode, while still being quicker than competition, thus saving your battery while you are on the road.
- Special skin for Remote Desktop – Simplified white color skin for Remote Desktop/VNC usage. Enables faster redrawing for slower connections to RDP.
- Improved handling of various formats – Improved support for NSIS, PA SFX’s, ZIP.001 archives, tar archives and more.
- Faster SFTP speeds – Improved SFTP speeds for both download and upload.
- Easier registration system with PowerArchiver Select – Implemented better registration system, integrated with PowerArchiver Select. It automatically updates your codes for major versions as long as PowerArchiver Select is active.
- Hundreds of other Improvements – Overall, over 300 various changes/improvements/fixes implemented.
