Winzip for Outlook

[terrie]

Couldn't quite firgure out where to put this and decided this section was as good as any...

>>--- New WinZip Companion for Outlook ---

WinZip Companion for Outlook makes it easy for users of Microsoft(R)
Outlook to zip and encrypt attachments to outgoing e-mail messages.
Zipping attachments saves transmission time, conserves space in Outlook
mailboxes, and saves disk space for both the sender and recipient of the
e-mail message.

The Companion can be configured to automatically zip your attachments,
to ask whether or not you want them zipped, or to let you zip and attach
files manually with just a few mouse clicks. Toolbar and menu items
allow you to control the Companion's functionality on a
message-by-message basis.

In addition, sensitive attachments can be easily protected with the same
built-in advanced AES encryption found in WinZip 9.0.

The recipient of the zipped attachments does not need to have WinZip
Companion for Outlook installed to open attachments. All the recipient
needs is a compatible Zip utility such as WinZip 9.0.

For more information regarding WinZip Companion for Outlook, and to
download the evaluation version for a 45-day trial, please visit:

http://www.winzip.com/prodpagewzcou.htm?emcou

To order a fully licensed copy of WinZip Companion for Outlook, please
visit:

http://www.winzip.com/order.cgi?emcou

A single-user license for WinZip Companion for Outlook is only US$19,
and attractive multi-user pricing is available. <<


Terrie

[Michael Rowley]

Terrie:

That capacity to zip outgoing attachments from Outlook has existed for ages in PKZip for Windows. It's very convenient for multiple attachments, though I turn it off for most single attachments.

[terrie]

>>michaelr: That capacity to zip outgoing attachments from Outlook has existed for ages in PKZip for Windows.

Since I don't use Outlook (and never will), I don't have a clue about what's available for it...I've been using Winzip for eons although one of the first licenses I ever bought was for PKZip...I can't remember now why I stopped using it and switched to Winzip...one nice thing about Winzip, is that I paid for it once and I've never had to pay for an update--not sure if PKZip is like that...

Terrie

[Michael Rowley]

Terrie:

'I can't remember now why I stopped using it and switched to Winzip'

Probably because Winzip was one of the first (if not the first) programs that unzipped & zipped in Windows, and although PKWare soon brought out a version of PKZip for Windows, for a while it was not as convenient as Winzip. However, the present versions are OK though, and one of the features PKZip for Windows offers is the facility to zip your attachments. It works for Outlook, but I don't know if it works for other e-mail clients—I happen to use Outlook. Outlook 2003 is pretty good.

[terrie]

>>michaelr: Probably because Winzip was one of the first (if not the first) programs that unzipped & zipped in Windows, and although PKWare soon brought out a version of PKZip for Windows,

But it's weird because I had PKZip *before* I got Winzip...I always thought PKZip was originally pc based...interesting that it wasn't...

Terrie

[Michael Rowley]

Terrie:

'I always thought PKZip was originally pc based'

It was a DOS program long before there was a Windows version. PKZip (and PKUnzip) were the principal DOS zipper & unzipper long before I had my first computer in 1988. I don't think WinZip came out until Windows 3. However, compression of files presumably started with Unix.

[Stephen Owades]

Terrie:

'I always thought PKZip was originally pc based'

It was a DOS program long before there was a Windows version. PKZip (and PKUnzip) were the principal DOS zipper & unzipper long before I had my first computer in 1988. I don't think WinZip came out until Windows 3. However, compression of files presumably started with Unix.
In the early DOS days, the standard compression format was called ARC (short for ARChive), and a company called System Enhancement Associates (SEA) offered the standard program for making and un-making ARC files. Phil Katz ("PK") first introduced a compatible competitor to ARC called PKARC, but when SEA sued to stop him from using their format, he developed his own compression scheme--the original ZIP (PKZIP). There's a long and interesting history of this stuff at http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/research/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/.

There have been data-compression schemes for a long time in the world of computing, and UNIX isn't the beginning of all things--I am old enough to remember computers before UNIX. <g> The UNIX TAR utility (for making Tape ARchives) included a compression feature, and it almost certainly predates ARC and ZIP, but I doubt it was the first such program.

[Michael Rowley]

Stephen:

'the standard compression format was called ARC'

I think all the systems used for compressing computer code go back to Huffman, though with later improvements. I don't know exactly when Huffman published his paper on compression, but as he died in 1999 aged 74, and the paper was published when he was a graduate student at MIT, it must have been about 1950. Most people use LHA or LZH, where the 'H' stands for Huffman, but I have forgotten what the names are that contribute the other letters.

[Stephen Owades]

Stephen:

'the standard compression format was called ARC'

I think all the systems used for compressing computer code go back to Huffman, though with later improvements. I don't know exactly when Huffman published his paper on compression, but as he died in 1999 aged 74, and the paper was published when he was a graduate student at MIT, it must have been about 1950. Most people use LHA or LZH, where the 'H' stands for Huffman, but I have forgotten what the names are that contribute the other letters.
There's some good information on compression and archiving at http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=258094, a site which also contains links to many other resources and seminal papers (including Huffman's). The "LZ" stands for (Abraham) Lempel and (Jacob) Ziv, whose scheme was first proposed in 1977. Huffman's paper dates from 1952; you can find his paper at http://compression.graphicon.ru/download/articles/huff/huffman_1952_minimum-redundancy-codes.pdf.

[Michael Rowley]

Stephen:

How can I have forgotten Lempel & Ziv?

Much of the information on the Web is in Japanese, which is probably connected with the development of LHA in the eighties. I had (probably still have) Yoshi's version of LHA—the directions for its use had fortunately been translated into English.

[terrie]

>>michaelr: It was a DOS program long before there was a Windows version.

How soon we forget! That's exactly that I had...the DOS version...duh...'-}}

Terrie

[terrie]

>>stepheno: In the early DOS days, the standard compression format was called ARC (short for ARChive),

I knew about that but I don't think I've dealt with more than one or two arc files...


>>Phil Katz ("PK") first introduced a compatible competitor to ARC called PKARC, but when SEA sued to stop him from using their format, he developed his own compression scheme--the original ZIP (PKZIP).

I vaguely remember some of that...one thing that sticks in my mind is that Phil Katz was kind of well...odd...can't remember the specifics...will check out the link...thanks!

Terrie

PS...just read the page you referenced...very sad about Phil Katz...