RAR and ZIP are the two compression file formats that are used by millions of people all across the globe. On the surface, both of them appear to be offering the same thing, but if you dive a little deeper, you will see the clear differences between both file formats.
RAR is considered to be the better format for data compression, while the ZIP file format is more accessible. The ZIP file format is supported by multiple operating systems and is more common. On the other hand, RAR is also pretty common, but you must use WinRAR to compress or extract RAR files.
RAR files are also not that common on Mac OS, so if you are wondering how you can convert rar to zip on Mac, you can use the browser over to the highlighted text to learn more.
ZIP File Format
The ZIP file format was first introduced in 1989 by Phil Katz at PKWARE. It is an archive file format with the help of which you can compress your files without losing any data. It has several compression algorithms and can compress multiple files at once.
Its media type is application/zip and is represented by the file extension .zip. Both individuals and organizations have used it for decades to compress data and save files for a longer period. ZIP is considered a pretty secure file format.
RAR File Format
RAR file format was introduced much later after the release of the ZIP format in 1993. It was developed by Eugene Roshal (software engineer from Russia) and is considered to be one of the best compression software out there.
RAR also supports lossless data compression for proprietary archive files. It is the most common compression file format used by Windows users, and the WinRAR software required to access the file format is completely free. RAR files are pretty secure and keep your file protected
Performance and Quality Comparison
When it comes to judging the quality of the compression offered by both formats, you need to take a lot of factors into account. Different files have different compression requirements, and the program you are using compresses it accordingly. Some compression tools will sacrifice the quality to focus on the speed, while others will try to keep the quality intact.
It is true for both formats, and the quality of the files compressed by different software programs can also vary. The compression also depends highly on the algorithm used for compression. In general, many consider WinRAR to be better because it is the latest of the two. However, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you will achieve a higher-quality compress if you are using WinRAR. There are a lot of other factors involved, and you might be able to get better results from ZIP files in some cases.
Security
If you want to keep your files secure, you can do that by password protecting your ZIP or RAR file. Adding a password to the RAR file is pretty easy, and the feature comes built-in with WinRAR. However, to put a password on ZIP files, you will have to download a program like 7-ZIP or WinZIP.
7-ZIP offers slightly better security as it uses AES-256 encryption while WinRAR uses AES-128 encryption. However, both are pretty secure in general, and once you have put a lock on the files, no one will be able to view their contents.
There are also some advanced algorithms out there that offer better quality, but they can also change the name of the file format.
For example, if you are using 7zip for compressing ZIP files, you will get .7zip files; this happens because 7zip uses LZMA and LZMA2 compression algorithms, which are more advanced and powerful. They might not be faster than the previous algorithms, but they deliver better much better quality.
Deciding what compression method to use is a matter of whether you need efficiency, accessibility, speed, or security. Once you have answered that question, you will be able to choose the best option for your project.
Compatible Programs for ZIP and RAR Files
ZIP is the oldest compressing file format which is why you will find it in every operating system. Since its release, ZIP has been improved by several other programs over the course of years and is compatible with many software. 7Zip, WinZip, and IZArc are some of the popular programs that are compatible with ZIP files.
When it comes to RAR files, you don’t really need to look further than WinRAR. There are many programs that can run RAR files, but the compression for RAR files can only be done with WinRAR.