Utility MagicRAR 5.0 ($30) by Simon King’s Utilities Group

Simon King’s Utilities Group Pty Ltd. has launched MagicRAR 5.0, a data compression utility for Windows end-users, power users, systems administrators, and large corporate networks.

MagicRAR 5.0 introduces several benefits not found in veteran competing products like WinZip or WinRAR. These benefits eliminate data compression related IT costs and training, while exponentially increasing the possibilities of what may be achieved with data compression utilities.

It has the ability to browse inside 60 different types of archive files, including the ZIP, CAB, RAR, ISO, and 7ZIP formats, as if they were ordinary file system folders. Especially on large corporate networks where the average user may not be computer literate, this is an indispensable convenience. Double-clicking a file inside an archive folder automatically extracts it and launches with the owner application; even offering to update the original copy inside the archive if changes are saved. Dragging and dropping, or copying and pasting files between archive folders and the physical file system transparently compresses and extracts files on-the-fly.

"Shell Namespace Extension Technology is what enables this perfect illusion," says Simon King. "Despite the necessary programming interfaces having been disclosed by Microsoft in 2002 as part of the Microsoft – Department of Justice settlement, neither WinZip nor WinRAR have managed to implement this technology in their own products for over a decade. MagicRAR has risen up to the challenge, filling the void created by these industry veterans in their inability to adapt to the new era of convenience in computing technologies."

MagicRAR also integrates with all versions of Microsoft Outlook, compressing all email attachments, together with optional 256 bit AES encryption to protect the integrity and privacy of data. While WinRAR lacks Outlook integration and WinZip charges extra for it, MagicRAR’s Outlook integration is provided free of charge.

Together with Archive Folders, MagicRAR’s Outlook integration offers an end-to-end data compression solution for all corporate users, eliminating traditional business process bottlenecks associated with legacy data compression products such as WinZip or WinRAR. With support for over 60 different compression formats, no user will be stalled trying to extract an odd file they were emailed or downloaded from the Internet. MagicRAR’s built-in anti-virus scanning ensures this level of convenience doesn’t come with any risks attached.

It is future-proof thanks to its plug-in based architecture. Adding support for as-yet unknown archive types is as easy as installing their supporting plug-ins – after which, previously inaccessible files become browsable folders just like any other. It may browse inside Windows XP Mode hard disks as if they were ordinary folders, putting all data contained in legacy applications at your fingertips; without the hassle of mounting virtualized operating system disk drives. MagicRAR has also been designed to leverage the power of modern hardware, and leverages the power of SSDs by executing multiple compression/extraction options in parallel; reducing task completion times.

In addition to corporate and home users, MagicRAR has thought of power users.

Right-clicking any collection of files in Windows Explorer and choosing the Find Smallest Archive menu item benchmarks a total of 40 data compression algorithms against that live data set, reporting the optimal data compression algorithm for that collection of files.

Right-clicking any archive file and choosing the Recursive Extract menu item extracts the selected archive, together with any other archives nested inside it; until no more data remains which could be decompressed – all in a single click.

Also there is the right-click Extract to Subfolders option, which does not create redundant top-level folders when all archive contents are already located inside a single folder within the archive. This exemplifies the intelligence behind MagicRAR’s design, fixing a common pet peeve of power users, which legacy products like WinZip and WinRAR have failed to address over the years.

MagicRAR ships with a full version of Drive Press. It converts any Windows hard disk to use on-the-fly data compression, while ensuring all user data and program files remain accessible as if they were uncompressed. Unlike built-in NTFS compression, Drive Press completes drive compression in record times, especially on SSD based hardware, thanks to its ability to use up to double the number of CPU cores available on the system during the drive conversion process.

Safely decompressing an entire hard drive is fast, should it become necessary for any reason. Indispensable on expensive SSDs, Drive Press grows the capacity of any hard disk by an average 25%, with no visible performance penalty, and at no additional cost – reducing the cost per gigabyte of every disk.

MagicRAR is available for a fee of $29.95, including Drive Press, Outlook Add-In, and Shell Namespace Extension technologies. Volume purchasing discounts and annual maintenance contracts are available. A Group Policy based setup file with support for unattended network deployment on large corporate networks is available.

End-users purchasing MagicRAR for home use enjoy delayed billing for 30 days, where they receive their product keys instantly but are not billed during the first 30 days of their use, and may cancel their purchase at any time without being charged. This in effect extends the free trial period to 60 days, one day for each archive format that MagicRAR supports.