December 9th, 1999

[8:00 AM] Aladdin Moves One Step Closer To Cross-Platform Compression Ubiquity
by Staff

Aladdin Systems has announced a new product which moves a long way towards cross-platform compression defacto standards. The company has announced DropZip for Windows which allows Windows users to use either the Zip compression format or the Stuffit compression format. Zip is the dominant compression format for Windows while Stuffit has long been the favorite on the Mac side. According to Aladdin:

Aladdin Systems, Inc. today announced it is shipping DropZip(tm), a new Zip (.zip) and StuffIt(r) (.sit) compression product for Windows users to aid in cross-platform Internet communication.

DropZip includes the powerful StuffIt 5 compression algorithm that creates StuffIt archives that are up to 20% smaller than Zip files. Better compression means users save 20% more network bandwidth, making downloads and uploads 20% faster (saving time) and users save 20% more space (for Internet transmission when using archives for backups). Included with DropZip is Aladdin Expander(tm) freeware, the only Windows decompression tool that gives users access to all of the popular compressed and encoded files found on the Internet.

DropZip's Features and Benefits:

  • Easy StuffIt and Zip compression via drag-and-drop on a desktop shortcut, a convenient context menu or the DropStuff menus for easy compression and expansion with no new application to learn
  • Zip-Compress files for the following PK Zip- supported systems:
    • Unix
    • VMS
    • MS-DOS
    • OS/2
    • Windows 95/98
    • Windows NT
    • Minix
    • Atari
    • Macintosh
    • Amiga
    • Acorn RISC OS
  • New StuffIt technology squeezes file size 20% smaller than Zip compression
  • Choice of "Maximum," "Fastest," or "No" compression for creating StuffIt archives
  • New StuffIt format is Unicode compliant for improved international file support and cross-platform performance
  • Enhanced support options from the Help menu provides easy access to online support from Aladdin's Web site
  • Includes Aladdin Expander(tm), the complete and universal tool for accessing compressed files found on the Internet. With Expander, users can expand any StuffIt file and translate Mac file information to Windows extensions (.txt, .doc) for easy access to files
  • Automatically attach Zip-compressed files to new outgoing e-mail messages

System Requirements

DropZip requires a PC running Windows 95, 98 or NT 4.0. DropZip is fully compatible with all versions of PKZip on the IBM, Info-ZIP on Unix, and zip implementations on other platforms.

You can find more information on DropZip at the company's web site. DropZip is priced at US$20. Owners of DropStuff for Windows or Mac can purchase the product for US$10. The company offers a 30-day free trial.

The Mac Observer Spin: This is important for Mac users and Windows users alike. For many years, it was difficult for Windows users and Mac users to share compressed files. Utilities like ZipIt eventually appeared for the Mac that made it possible to open Zip files on a Mac, and Aladdin eventually brought both Stuffit and Stuffit Expander to Windows. Aladdin then added the ability to decompress Zip files in Stuffit Expander and the ability to make Zip files with Stuffit Deluxe. DropZip completes the last piece of the puzzle by allowing Windows users to create either Zip or Stuffit files with one utility. All these products combined basically eliminate most of the hassles associated cross-platform file sharing.

Aladdin