Compressed files are very useful on a day-to-day basis. Whether for personal use, such as to share files over the Internet, ZIP, RAR, 7Z files, or whatever format they have, allow us to group them, reduce their final size, and share them more easily over the network. Windows, as standard, is compatible with compressed files in ZIP format, but if we want to work with other different formats it is necessary to use other more compatible programs, such as PeaZip .
PeaZip is a free and open source file compressor, released in 2010, and available for Windows and Linux. Thanks to it, we will be able to open and create any type of compressed file, in whatever format. Although this program is excellently maintained, and usually receives small periodic maintenance updates, the last major update, 7.0, arrived in 2019.
A few hours ago, its developers have just released a new major update to this program , 8.0. And it also comes with important changes and news that we are going to see below.
What’s new in PeaZip 8.0
This new version introduces a lot of changes and fixes under the hood. Its developers have worked hard to improve the way files are managed depending on the type of container. Browsing through files, and converting them to other formats, is now a faster and more efficient task, especially when working with the TAR format. Searching for files, and generating random passwords, are other enhanced features.
However, despite these important changes, the one that will attract our attention the most is the new interface . The main GUI of the program now has a new style menu and a new status bar that allows us to change the view of the program much more easily.
This new version 8.0 will allow us to choose what we want to do when opening a certain format . For example, we can choose if we want to open it, as always, within the program, or to extract it directly by double-clicking on the file.
The PEA engine has been updated to version 1.01, adding the ability to always run in the background and interact with other programs. In Windows, the executable makecab.exe is now easier to use, and we can find it directly in the menu, within the “Advanced” tab.
PeaZip 8.0 also adds support for new file formats . This compressor is now capable of reading .xappx, .3mf, .vsdx, .mmzx, .aasx, .slx and .scdoc files, for a total of 218 different file extensions.
Download and update
This new version is already available for all those users who want to use the program. As we have said, PeaZip is a totally free and open source program, and we can download it for free from the following link .
Within the “Help” section of the program we can find a function that allows us to search for new versions. However, the installation is manual, so once the new version is downloaded, we will have to run the installer to install the new PeaZip 8.0 .
We remind you that this installer is available for Windows and Linux, in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. In Windows, in addition, we can choose an installable version or a portable one that does not need installation.