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I worry that 7-Zip is going to lose relevance because lack of zstd support. zlib's performance is intolerable for large files and zlib-ng's SIMD implementation
by d33 1y ago
I worry that 7-Zip is going to lose relevance because lack of zstd support. zlib's performance is intolerable for large files and zlib-ng's SIMD implementation only helps here a bit. Which is a shame, because 7-Zip is a pretty amazing container format, especially with its encryption and file splitting capabilities.
- sammy2255 1y agohttps://github.com/mcmilk/7-Zip-zstd https://github.com/mcmilk/7-Zip-zstd
- abhinavk 1y agohttps://github.com/M2Team/NanaZip https://github.com/M2Team/NanaZip It includes the above patches as well as few QoL features.
- birksherty 1y agoTried it, compression is worse compared to 7-Zip-zstd by mcmilk for zstd, for same speed. The removal of text from toolbar icons is enough for me to never use it again. 7zip can change file associations directly with it and very easy. Feels like NanaZip is worse in QoL than 7zip.
- d33 1y agoThanks! Any ideas why it didn't get merged? Clearly 7-Zip has some development activity going on and so does this fork...
- Beretta_Vexee 1y agoWorking with Igor Pavlov, the creator of 7-zip, does not seem very straightforward (understatement).
- Tuldok 1y ago7-zip's development is very cathedral. Igor Pavlov doesn't look like he accepts contributions from the public.
- rf15 1y agoNot that many people care about zstd; I would assume most 7-zip users care about the convenience of the gui.
- jorvi 1y ago.. but 7-zip has a pretty terrible GUI? Hence why PeaZip is so popular, and J-Zip used to be before it was stuffed with adware.
- general1726 1y agoMost people won't use that GUI, but will right click file or folder -> 7-Zip -> Add To ... and it will spit out a file without questions. Granted Windows 11 has started doing the same for its zip and 7zip compressors. Same trick goes for opening archives or executables (Installers) as archives.
- axus 1y agoLet's chat about Windows 11 right-click menu. I'm pretty sure they hid all the application menu extensions to avoid worst-case performance issues.
- p_ing 1y agoExactly it. 3rd parties injecting their extensions harmed performance, which people turn around and blame Microsoft for.
- birksherty 1y agoPeople are really praising microsoft for for all three new "features" and tracking in win 11.
- m-schuetz 1y agoAll the GUI I need is right click-> extract here or to folder. And 7zip is doing that nicely.
- privatelypublic 1y agoIt already has- look up nanazip
- m-schuetz 1y agoBeing a bit faster or efficient won't make most people switch. 7z offers great UX (convenient GUI and support for many formats) that keeps people around.
- rat9988 1y agoIf anything, the gui and ux is terrible compared to winrar.
- dikei 1y agoI use ZSTD a ton in my programming work where efficiency matters. But for sharing files with other people, ZIP is still king. Even 7z or RAR is niche. Everyone can open a ZIP file, and they don't really care if the file is a few MBs bigger.
- cesarb 1y ago> Everyone can open a ZIP file, and they don't really care if the file is a few MBs bigger. You can use ZSTD with ZIP files too! It's compression method 93 (see https://pkware.cachefly.net/webdocs/casestudies/APPNOTE.TXT https://pkware.cachefly.net/webdocs/casestudies/APPNOTE.TXT which is the official ZIP file specification). Which reveals that "everyone can open a ZIP file" is a lie. Sure, everyone can open a ZIP file, as long as that file uses only a limited subset of the ZIP format features. Which is why formats which use ZIP as a base (Java JAR files, OpenDocument files, new Office files) standardize such a subset; but for general-purpose ZIP files, there's no such standard. (I have encountered such ZIP files in the wild; "unzip" can't decompress them, though p7zip worked for these particular ZIP files.)
- dikei 1y agoWell, only a lunatic would use ZIP with anything but DEFLATE/DEFLATE64
- redeeman 1y agothere are A LOT of zip files using lzma in the wild. also, how about people learn to use updated software? should newer video compression technologies not be allowed in mkv/mp4. if you cant open it, well.. then stop using 90ies winzip
- 1over137 1y ago>how about people learn to use updated software? How about software developers learn to keep software working on old OSes and old hardware?
- Beretta_Vexee 1y agoYou are looking for 7-Zip Zstd: https://github.com/mcmilk/7-Zip-Zstd https://github.com/mcmilk/7-Zip-Zstd I don't know what your use case is, but it seems to be quite a niche.
- zx2c4 1y agoI was curious upon seeing this and found the thread where its inclusion was turned down: https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/a7e4f3f3/ https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/a...
- birksherty 1y agoI use this one too. This is the best one out of all the alternative 7zip with zstd. UI is same, has all the options and faster than those for zstd in my comparisons.
- pjmlp 1y agoAs long as it does a better job than whatever Windows team packs into the OS, they're safe. Even on latest Windows 11 takes minutes to do what 7-Zip does in seconds. Goes to show how good all those leetcode interviews turn out.
- conkeisterdoor 1y agoGlad I'm not the only one who feels this way. WinZip is a slow and bloated abomination, especially compared to 7-Zip. The right-click menu context entry for 7-Zip is very convenient and runs lightning fast. WinZip can't compete at all.
- pjmlp 1y agoMixing channels here, WinZip is a commercial product, unrelated to Windows 11 7-zip support, and my comment. https://www.winzip.com https://www.winzip.com
- jccalhoun 1y agoSince Windows 11 incorporated libarchive back in October 2023 there is less reason to use 7-zip on windows. I would be surprised if any of my friends even know what a zip file is let alone zstd.
- rs186 1y agoIf you ever try to extract an archive file of several gigabyte size with hundreds of thousands of files (I know, it's rare), the built-in one is as slow as a turtle compared to 7z.
- xxs 1y agoThere are lots of 7zip alike with zstd support (it's a plugin effectively). On [corporate] Windows NanaZip would be my choice as it's available in Windows store. on anything else - either directly zstd or tar
- Night_Thastus 1y ago7-zip is the de-facto tool on Windows and has been for a long time. It's more than fast and compressed enough for 99% of peoples use cases. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. The more likely thing to eat into its relevance is now that Windows has built-in basic support for zipping/unzipping EDIT: other formats*, which relegates 7-zip to more niche uses.
- izzydata 1y agoIs there something different about the built in zip context menu functionality now than before? I'm pretty sure you could convert something to a zip file since forever ago by right clicking any file.
- Night_Thastus 1y agoIt could support basic ZIP files, but only Windows 11 added support for 7-Zip (.7z), RAR (.rar), TAR, and TAR variants (like .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, etc). That makes it 'good enough' for the vast majority of people, even if it's not as fast or fully-featured as 7-Zip.
- malfist 1y agoWindows has had built in zip/unzip since vista. 7zip is far superior (and the install base proves that)
- Night_Thastus 1y agoAs mentioned in another comment, zip support actually goes further back as far as '98, but only Windows 11 added support for handling other formats like RAR/7-Zip/.tar/.tar.gz/.tar.bz2/etc. That allows it to be a default that 'just works' for most people without installing anything extra. The vast majority of users don't care about the extra performance or functionality of a tool like 7-zip. They just need a way to open and send files and the Windows built-in tool is 'good enough' for them. I agree that 7-zip is better, but most users simply do not care.
- marcellus23 1y agoWhy are they not adopting ztsd?