Jump to content

Whats with all the .rar mods?


rawrn00b

Recommended Posts

.exe does not simply comress, it creates an independent program, and, like Woogie said, unidentified programs are not something to be randomly installed on your computer. The reason everyone uses .rar or .7z is because they compress more than .zip thus allowing people to upload more stuff and take up less space.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally like using RAR (tends to be a tad more stabler and compresses slightly better than 7-Zip), but because it's a proprietary format (and therefore costs $$$), I usually end up using 7-Zip anyway.

 

EDIT: BTW, before anyone blasts me for my comment, I just want to mention that I have no problem paying for WinRAR, but it's the method of paying (via credit card) that I simply can't do (I don't have a credit card, and cannot afford one ATM)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I can't understand the hate that .rar and 7-zip tend to get. Seems to be a "I'm not familiar with these formats, so therefore they must suck" kind of thing.

 

Disliking something simply because it's mainstream may be a bit silly, but in this case there are very *valid* reasons why many (if not most) submitters prefer rar & 7-zip.

 

To compare:

 

Executable installers = dangerous! Terrific way to get adware or worse on your machine. Sure, you can scan the file... but will your virus scanner detect malware? Maybe, maybe not. If it's a well disguised trojan, your virus scanner won't detect anything, no matter how well updated it is.

 

.zip compression = ok, but inefficent (and comes from a proprietary format originally, just like .rar) Bandwidth costs our gracious hosts $$, and every little bit saved here and there really adds up.

 

.rar compression = a better .zip, from this user's perspective. You can use the "trial" version for years and years, never paying a thing. Just dismiss the little nag window. That's it.

 

7-zip = the "best" compression method, in theory. In practice, it suffers the usual open-sourcy issues (occasional stability problems, processor intensive execution-- i.e., it runs like suck if you have an ancient machine). Probably not much of an issue if your rig can run oblivion.

 

Wow, I've spent way to much time rambling about a boring topic. Just tired of seeing this gripe posted on every forum everywhere, I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...