BetterZip - a Better Zip and Unzip Utility for Mac OSX

Many people, when transferring files from one computer to another, or sending a friend or family member a set of photos, want to be as efficient as possible, both to save time as well as space. One of the means of doing this (and especially effective with office documents), is to compress the files. The most popular method of compressing files in the Windows world (and becoming the standard for Macs as well, although Stuffit's .sit file is still popular), is to zip them. Years ago, zipping a collection of files meant having to find a program to perform this task, and often another one to unzip the zip files.

No more. Mac OS X actually includes the ability to zip and unzip files (via a program named BOMArchiveHelper), and new Macs also include Stuffit Expander. The addition of these two programs is very important, in my mind, as it shows that Apple is willing to make is simple for Mac users to interact with their far more numerous coworkers and friends using Windows.

Unfortunately, the solutions included by Apple, while adequate, aren't exactly up to the task in my mind. For one, while it's incredibly simple to create an archive out of a folder, or a bunch of folders (simply by highlighting what you want to save, right-clicking and choosing the Create Archive option), and it's also insanely easy to unzip an archived file (double-click on it, which should use Apple's BOMArchiveHelper by default, or else right-click and choose Stuffit Expander), there are some features missing.

Fortunately, there is a great shareware program out there, called BetterZip, which truly is what its name would imply - a better way to zip (and unzip), your files.