WinZip - Release History - WinZip

WinZip

History of Version Releases

The ZIP file archive format (ZIP) was originally invented for MS-DOS in 1989 by Phil Katz.

Seeing the need for an archive application with a Graphical User Interface, Nico Mak (then employed by Mansfield Software Group, Inc) seized the opportunity and developed the WinZip application for Microsoft Windows.

WinZip 1.0 was initial version for Windows.

WinZip 2.0 added support for ARC files, support for self-extracting ZIP files (ZIP2EXE), optional interface to Virus Scan software, dialog box to specify paths and filenames of external programs.

WinZip 3.0 added full support for LZH files, including self-extracting LZH files, configurable support for most virus scanners, simplified options to add and extract files in a subdirectory tree.

WinZip 3.1 added support for Windows 3.1 Drag and Drop Interface, enhanced Extract dialog box with common dialog directory and drive list, Test action for ZIP and LZH files, added file types ZIP, LZH, and ARC to New and Open dialog boxes.

WinZip 3.2 added Built-in ZIP Extraction so that PKUNZIP is not needed for most ZIP extract operations. WinZip always uses PKZIP.EXE to modify ZIP files.

WinZip 4.0 added support for PKZIP 2.0, including built-in ZIP extraction, support for the ARJ file format, new toolbar with descriptive pictorial buttons, added a 3-D look to all dialog boxes.

WinZip 5.0 added PKZIP-compatible built-in zipping, so PKZIP is not needed for basic archive management. Note that two advanced features, disk-spanning and encryption, still require PKZIP. Added support for Windows-based virus scanners. Added built-in Actions/Test operation for ZIP files. Built-in unzipping is used when running DOS virus scanners. Added support for international characters in archive names and files in archives.

WinZip 5.5 added the ability to install, try, and UNINSTALL software distributed in ZIP files.

WinZip 5.6 added support for the popular Internet file formats TAR, gzip, and Unix compress.

WinZip 6.0 added many Windows 95 features, including tight integration with the Windows 95 shell and Explorer-style dialog boxes. Other enhancements included an improved interface to file viewers, an "Express Setup" option, and better support for virus scanners.

WinZip 6.0a features improved Windows 95 drag and drop support.

WinZip 7.0 introduced Microsoft's CAB (cabinet) format, Internet Explorer 4.0-style "one click open" interface, Zip comment, registry-based configuration, ARJ 2.60 long file name support, Explorer-style fonts. WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition now creates Zip files that span multiple removable disks.

WinZip 8.0's Wizard interface was extended to allow create and update Zip files from the Wizard, extract and install from MIME and other encoded files, automatic installation of desktop themes and screen savers; added Explorer context menu when opening files within archives, inclusion of subfolders when adding or updating archives, "Explorer-style" toolbar buttons, displays a tooltip when a Zip file is selected in Windows Explorer, WinZip context menus displays small icons corresponding to the menu items' toolbar buttons in Under Windows 98 and Windows 2000; install desktop themes and screen savers contained in Zip files; new Zip and E-Mail Explorer context menu feature, automatically display the Zip comment, context menu help in WinZip dialogues, viewing multiple files with 1 action. Windows extensions are now 32-bit Explorer Shell extensions only. WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition no longer supports creation of 16-bit self-extracted archive.

WinZip 8.1 was the last major release to officially support Windows 95. It included extract multiple ZIP archives in explorer, configurable Explorer context menu, creation of split ZIP archives, new Quick Pick Taskbar Tray Icon, resizable dialogs under Windows 98 or higher, extract files from split and spanned ZIP archives in Wizard interface, Windows XP theme support, opening "skin" files for Microsoft Media Player 7 (.WMZ), Yahoo! Player (.YFS), and Winamp (.WSZ), display Zip file comments of up to 64,000 characters, Support for filenames containing multi-byte character set (MBCS) characters, increasing number of entries created by the CheckOut feature in the Programs menu to 500.

WinZip 9.0 added support for AES encryption for ZIP archives, BZip2-compressed ZIP archives (extraction only). It also removed the previous limitations of 65,535 files per ZIP file and maximum file size of 4 gigabytes. This version was released in 2004.

WinZip 10 added support for creating and extracting PPMd-compressed ZIP archives. It was the last major release to officially support Windows 98/ME. WinZip Pro was added in this release, which added automation and task scheduling features. This version was released in 2005.

WinZip 11 added support for creating and extracting WavPack-compressed ZIP archives. The installer still installed to Windows 98/ME, but these operating systems were no longer officially supported. WinZip Pro added Passive FTP support, FTP transfers, e-mail notification option for Job Wizard, custom jobs selection, full-size image viewer when opening archive. This version was released in 2006.

WinZip 11.1 was certified for Windows Vista, with Vista theme support and 64-bit Windows support.

WinZip 11.2 could create LHA archives without an external utility. Unicode file name support for ZIP archives was also added. Support for external archiver, including ARC, ARJ, were removed.

WinZip 12.0 (2008) added support of creating ZIP archives with lossless JPEG and LZMA compression methods; .ISO, .IMG, 7-Zip archive extractions. Added encryption policies, integrated image thumbnail viewer. The JPEG compression compresses metadata with LZMA compression, while image is compressed with binary arithmetic coding.

WinZip 12.1 (2009) introduces the new default .zipx file extension when creating ZIP archives using methods newer than Deflate64, added automatic resizing images being sent by using Zip and E-Mail functions.

WinZip 13 was skipped.

WinZip 14 (2009) added Windows 7 support, such as library grouping, taskbar icon jump lists, Explorer preview, multi-touch (two finger) gestures. WinZip 14 Backup edition was added, which supports automatic backup feature. AES New Instructions are used where supported to speed up AES encryption.

WinZip 14.5 (April 2010) added Microsoft Office 2010-style ribbon interface, support for Windows 7 Libraries, Jump Lists, Multi-Touch Gestures, other interface and functionality improvements.

WinZip 15 (Nov.2010, 2011-12-01): Implemented new performance architecture for high-speed zipping, interface improvements with refined menu designs and more intuitive icons, new desktop ZIP/UNZIP gadget with drag-and-drop functionality, new and extensive email/webmail support (+ Backup function in Pro version). Please note due to an bug in the first release of this version, when creating backup jobs (*.wjf), the job's file selection needs to be reset/set to have it working properly.

Winzip 15.5 (April 2011): New compression algorithms designed for multi-processor systems that zip files up to twice as fast, new WinZip Desktop Gadget option called 'Folder I Choose' that allows you to create or select a target folder for zipping/unzipping files on a case-by-case basis, dynamic, context-sensitive icons that automatically change to reflect the WinZip tasks available to your specific situation, streamlined processes that remove unnecessary dialogs and cut down on extra steps, the ability to show/hide the Address bar, the ability to instantly jump between any instances of WinZip that you currently have open, the ability to customize the look and feel of your WinZip interface with interchangeable themes, improved destination folder management, so when you open/alter a zipped file's contents directly from an email attachment, WinZip will prompt you to save your work to a new location on your computer (rather than the email temp folder), streamlined 'Unzip and Try' processes that remove extra steps, making temporary viewing even quicker and easier, extended enterprise support that provides IT control over the addition/alteration of e-mail services.

WinZip 16.0 was released on 2011-10-25. It implemented new 64-bit zip engine and added 64-bit version of Winzip, added ability to zip and write files to Blu-ray discs, added integration with ZipSend and ZipShare services, improved capabilities of file conversion from other supported formats to zip, enhanced preview tools for browsing and editing contents of other compressed file types, added System Scanner (diagnostic tool that scans for possible performance issues). ZipSend and ZipSend Pro can send message up to 50MB and 2GB of zipped data per message. ZipShare can post files up 20 MB of data directly to Facebook, for free, and up to 100MB of total data per account.

WinZip 16.5 supports OpenCL acceleration to file compression engine for AMD Fusion processors and AMD Radeon users, streamlined interface.

WinZip 17.0 was released on 2012-10-16. Introduced online sharing to storage and social media sites, image resizing, converting files to PDF, watermark addition, context-sensitive toolbars.