The Zip format has been around for quite some time even in the Mac community. It was never a popular archive format until 3 or 4 years ago. Those days, people were still using either disk image (.dmg) or StuffIt (.sit) more than Zip (.zip)

Some people still use StuffIt to pack a group of files. How do they pack files in the sit format? They use Smith Micro Software’s StuffIt Deluxe.

There are a few useful features that have made StuffIt Deluxe unique. No. 1, StuffIt Deluxe lets users split large archive files into parts. No. 2, StuffIt Deluxe allows users to preview files packed in archives before they unpack them. No. 3, StuffIt Deluxe allows users to password-protect archive files.

Compared with StuffIt, how far can we go with Zip archives? Actually, using a relatively new Mac shareware title called BetterZip, you can have those 3 useful features that StuffIt Deluxe offers even with Zip archives.  Continue reading →