WinAce 2.6.9

Overview

WinAce is a file archive manager that aims to be one of the fastest whilst offering a better compression ratio than rivals.

The tool can compress a short list of file archive types including ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, JAVA and JAR. The list of file archives that can be decompressed is slightly longer with support for ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, RAR, ARC, ARJ, GZip, TAR, ZOO, and JAR.

File archives can be checked for data integrity including ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, RAR, ARC, ARJ, GZip, TAR, ZOO, and JAR files. File archives can be accessed and managed across multiple physical disks.

Drag and drop is also fully supported so it is easy to drag a file archive or collection of files to be archived over to the application.

This archive manager is easy to use. The features are fairly self-explanatory and will make sense to people who have used a file archive program before.

Installation

The installation of WinAce took little time and completed promptly.

There were no adware, toolbars, spyware or other malicious software included in the setup package.

WinAce requires Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.x, 2000, XP or later.

Interface

The interface for WinAce will be quite familiar if the user has tried other file archive programs before like WinZIP.

There are menu items across the top and there is a toolbar with options for Create, Properties, Views, Open, Presets, Extract, Add, Delete and View.

Archive files can be opened and extracted. The contents of an archive can be viewed in the file list below the toolbar.

Pros

• Compress file archives in the following formats: ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, JAVA JAR
• Decompress file archives in the following formats: ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, RAR, ARC, ARJ, GZip, TAR, ZOO, JAR
• Access archives across multiple disks
• Manage password and encryption of file archives
• Deal with self-extracting archives in ZIP or ACE formats
• Check file archive integrity of ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, RAR, ARC, ARJ, GZip, TAR, ZOO, JAR
• Drop and drop support
• Repair and authenticate ACE and ZIP archives
• Use Windows Explorer to access file archives
• QuickViewer for HTML, ASCII text, Word and graphic files

Cons

• Less extensive range of file archives than other file archives managers.

Alternatives

WinZIP is one of the most feature-packed file archive manager available.

Conclusion

WinAce is a decent file archive manager which specializes in ACE file format but also supports a few other popular ones as well. The software works similar to any other file archive program so it doesn't have a steep learning curve to it.