What is a Zip File?
ZIP is a file format that compresses data to a small fraction of its original size in bytes. This makes transfer across a network or the Internet much faster. A single ZIP file can contain one or many individual files that will be reconstituted after the data is uncompressed. In order to use a file that has been compressed into a ZIP file, you must have a compression/uncompression software program, such as WinZip, PKZiP or SimplyZip. For more information about ZIP files or to download a free or trial version of a file compression program like the software listed above, simply perform a Google search for the term zip software .
Some of the files that are available for download on this website are in what is called a “zip file” format. A zipped file is a file that has been compressed and most often has a file extension of “.ZIP”. We zip the files on our system for two reasons. First, we have some add-ons that are huge. By zipping the file we collapse the file to 1/3 of its former size, significantly reducing the amount of time that it takes to download the add-on. Second, we are concerned about space on our server and zipping allows us to keep more files on our system. This is a very common way of distributing files on the Internet.
A ZIP file is a “compressed” format file. One or more original files can be compressed in size and then stored in a ZIP file. When the original files are needed, the user can “extract” them from the ZIP file using a ZIP file program. Storing files in the ZIP format provides two advantages for the person who downloads the file: (1) Several files (e.g., all of the files associated with a particular program) can be downloaded as one file, and (2) the files stored in a ZIP file are compressed, making the ZIP file smaller than the size of the uncompressed files, resulting in a faster download. The amount of compression varies depending on the type of original file being compressed. Word processor and database files often compress down to as little as 10% of their original size. Other types of files, such as some graphic image files, compress very little. When working with different types of files, an average of about 50% compression is typical.
