Free Mac compression tools - Download Here

[Kaido]

Download here (3.1mb)

I've used a number of compression applications for OS X and found a few that I really like, which also happen to be free. This toolkit lets you create compressed files (like ZIP), uncompress files, and also make those neato DMG disk images that OS X likes to use. The download file contains just the applications themselves; I've linked the websites below in the readme if you want to download the original packages.

Here's the readme:

Last Updated Friday, August 24, 2007

This package contains the following free applications:

1. DropCompress
2. FreeDMG
3. The Unarchiver

This combination of applications will allow you to easily create compressed files, make disk images, and uncompress files very easily. They support multiple file types and are much more powerful than the standard OS X compression tools. Here is a detailed description of each application along with website links:

DropCompress is a dock application that compresses any files that you drag onto it. You have 3 compression options: Tar-Gzip (.tar.gz), Zip (.zip), and Tar-Bzip2 (.tar.bz2). Tar-Gzip is the default. The most popular Internet format is Zip. To install, just copy it to the Applications folder. You can keep it in the dock by right-clicking on the dock icon and clicking on "Keep In Dock". The website is here:

http://homepage.mac.com/fahren...ress/dropCompress.html

FreeDMG is a dock application that wraps any files you drag onto it in a disk image file (DMG). There are a variety of compression options available; "UDZO - UDIF zlib-compress image" is the default and will work fine for basic use. You can optionally password-protect the DMG file (see preferences). Installation is the same as DropCompress, just copy it to the Applications folder and keep in the dock by right-clicking the dock icon and selecting "Keep In Dock". The website is here:

http://www.kelleycomputing.net:16080/freedmg/

The Unarchiver is a preferences application that allows you to uncompress many more file types than the default Mac uncompressor application. Among others, it can uncompress Zip, Tar-GZip, Tar-Bzip2, Rar, 7-zip, LhA, and StuffIt. To install, simply copy it to your Applications folder. It will actually replace the default unzip program in OS X once you set it up. You only have to set it up once: run the application, choose "Select All" under the Archive Formats tab, and exit. The website is here:

http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/unarchiver.html

 

[secretanchitman]

im used to using the unarchiver. its a great program!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
im used to using the unarchiver. its a great program!

Yeah, it's really great - I wish Apple would just include it with their OS by default, lol. I also really like FreeDMG - you can do it just as easily using Apple's Disk Utility, but it takes a few more steps than simply dragging the files on top of the FreeDMG icon. I am a big fan of efficiency DropCompress is also really nice - makes me wish Windows had an app that simple to drop in files to be zipped up.

 

[Kadarin]

It would be worthwhile to add this information to the stickied thread at the top of this forum...

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
It would be worthwhile to add this information to the stickied thread at the top of this forum...

It's already there, on the first page of that post. It's all in there

 

[randomlinh]

I've been using cleanarchiver, but dropcompress sounds neat. And yes, unarchiver rocks... sorta. I've had it choke on some multipart password protected rars unfortunately

 

[Merlyn3D]

unarchiver should be built into OS X, however it's still immature and has a few bugs here and there. In terms of a good all around archiver, I like BetterZip. It seems to be doing a good job and supports a variety of compression schemes. Plus, it allows you to view the contents of a zip archive without having to expand it first.