WinRAR or WinZip?

[KILROY]

So I bought me a new laptop, and it comes with a 30 trial period of WinZip then I have to purchase it for an undisclosed amount, but I've been hearing people relay they like WinRAR over WinZip. Which do you prefer?

[Erowid]

whatever is free. Windows can handle zip files by itself, unless you absolutely need an archiving program, I would never pay for one.
http://www.7-zip.org/

[KILROY]

whatevers free

Here's the problem with that statement, most free online programs you download, you get maleware, spamware, spybots, etc. CNET, Download.com, softonic.com, even MajorGeeks have been found to have this in their downloads. Even the owner of Major Geeks site admitted to accepting payoffs from companies to offer downloads with these type of built in programs into them. Anything online is that is free to download is hosted by a site (unless peer to peer or personal server you know the owner of) is NOT safe.

But back to my question, which would you choose, and why? Or do you recommend another?

[dawn]

WinRAR and yes I won`t pay for anything I can DL for free, never had a problem so long as you know where and what to watch for

[S']['U]

So I bought me a new laptop, and it comes with a 30 trial period of WinZip then I have to purchase it for an undisclosed amount, but I've been hearing people relay they like WinRAR over WinZip. Which do you prefer?

Winzip has been totally unnecessary ever since Windows XP came out.
Windows can easily extract and create zip files on it's own.

WinRAR is still needed to create or extract any .rar files you may download.
I use a free version that works just fine, but like you said, you need to be careful where you get it since many download sites bundle adware or malware with popular free downloads.

Winzip and WinRAR are not interchangable. Both will compress files, but each creates it's own type of file (.zip or .rar) that can only be opened with the proper program.
..In other words, WinRAR will not open a .zip file and Winzip can't open a .rar file.
WinRAR also has the ability to lock a compressed file with a password, which I don't believe you can do with Winzip.

With that being said, here's the safe. free version of WinRAR that I use:

Winrar.zip

(4.91 MiB) Downloaded 222 times

Of course, you'll need Winzip to open it.
That's as ironic as using Internet Explorer to download another browser (which is something else I highly recommend)

[KILROY]

Thanks everyone for their reply so far. I'm taking in all considerations and suggestions.

[LM|RCMP*]

winrar 3.90 pro edition. scanned it with 3 different AV programs, came up clean on all of them. enjoy

[SGT ROCK]

You guys ever check out Peazip ?

[virus]

Winrar can handle both .zip and .rar files. Extract and create.

[S']['U]

Winrar can handle both .zip and .rar files. Extract and create.

This may be true, but Windows can also handle .zip files.
The only thing he'll need WinRAR for is .rar files