ALZip

ALZip is an archive and compression utility from ESTsoft for Microsoft Windows. ALZip is a file compression program that can unzip 40 different zip file archives. ALZip can zip files into 8 different archives such as ZIP, EGG, TAR and others. In ALZip version 8, ALZip’s own EGG format, that Unicode and other powerful function supported, can be used.

ALZip
Developer(s)ESTsoft
Initial release1999
Stable release8.51.0.0 (9 September 2011 (2011-09-09)) [±]
Written inDelphi
Operating systemWindows 2000 or later
Available inEnglish, Korean, Japanese
TypeFile archiver
LicenseFreeware
Websitewww.altools.net

History

Originally ALZip was developed in 1999 as an internal application at the South Korean software company ESTsoft in response to employee frustration with using the English interface in WinZip.

The Korean interface was immediately well received[1] and later that year, ALZip was publicly released[2][3][4] as freeware.[5] In just over a year, ALZip became the most popular zip program in Korea[6] and by December 2001, was the top downloaded software[7][8] in the country. By 2004, it had reached a 70% market share in South Korea.[9] The popularity of the software and the ALZ archive format played a large role in earning ESTsoft a place in the Digital Innovation Awards Top 100 Companies in South Korea[10] with the software taking special mention.

Early in its development ALZip introduced the ALZ file format to deal with file size limitations of the ZIP file format. ALZ compression has no theoretical upper limit for file sizes, as they are only limited by operating system limits or the amount of available storage. The file format has become common in Korea.

The first English version was released in 2002. Since then, support for over 20 languages has been added.

The version 11.07 is available through Microsoft Store.[11]

Licensing changes

Originally ALZip was released as pure freeware, however in October 2001 changed to free for home use, with government usage requiring a software license. In April 2002, business license was also introduced,[4] commercial usage.[12] Licensing was based on the honor system, and there were no nag screens.

With the version 7 release, the license was changed from freeware to adware, displaying downloaded banner ads, and finally beginning 1 December 2008, all new releases are shareware requiring a paid license[13] except in its original Korean language, which requires no licensing fee.

With version 8.51, from 22 August 2012, ALZip changed the license so that it can be licensed free of charge. On the download page of ALZip is a serial number to copy and paste when you start AlZip, in order to have the license of the software free of charge.[14]

Naming and mascots

The name "ALZip" was chosen, as the "AL" part is a transliteration from the Korean "aljip" (Hangul: 알집), literally EggZip. Other ALTools feature similar egghead cartoon characters as mascots for each program.

Additionally, ALZip integrates into the "New Folder" function of Windows Explorer, where new folders are created with the option of using custom icons and names.[4]

Issues on file format

In 2003, there was a controversy over ALZip's own compression file format ALZ, when a developer of another Korean compression utility, "빵집" insisted that ALZip users were forced to use the ALZip archiver when decompressing ALZ files. He also insisted that ESTsoft does not offer decompression libraries, and third-party archiver developers have used reverse engineering to develop their own algorithms.[15]

The current version of "빵집" supports ALZ format.[16] and, in ALZip 8.0 beta version, ESTsoft made some format. *.EGG

See also

References
  1. Jeong, Jong Oh (November 1999). "HOW: 한글 지원 국산 압축 유틸리티 3종". HowPC (in Korean): 308–311.
  2. Lee, J. N. (23 August 1999). 모든 압축파일 자유자재로 풀어줍니다. Yonhap News (in Korean). Yonhap.
  3. Yoon, H. J. (30 August 1999). 압축유틸리티 '알집' 발표. 전자신문 (in Korean). Chunjashinmun.
  4. Wi, Yoonhee; Ji, Hyunjung (February 2003). "PC 유틸리티는 쉽고 편하게, 알집에서 알툴즈까지". Microsoftware (in Korean). Microsoftware (2): 152–155.
  5. Han, Sujin (November 2002). "CEO of the Month: 국산 소프트웨어의 자존심". Popular Science (in Korean) (11): 90.
  6. "Most used compression program poll". 9 February 2001. Archived from the original on 13 August 2002. Retrieved 27 February 2001.
  7. Maeilkyungjae IT Internet (2001-12-03)
  8. Choi, Yeonjin (19 December 2001). "2001 디지탈 이노베이션 大賞 수상업체". Hankooki (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo.
  9. "Korea Software Industry Association" (in Korean). 2004. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2006.
  10. 디지탈 이노베이션 大賞. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. 28 November 2001. p. 2.
  11. "Get ALZip". Microsoft Store. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  12. "Program Deliberation and Mediation Committee" (in Korean). June 2003. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006.
  13. http://www.altools.com/Default.aspx
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140223091755/http://www.altools.com/Home/News.aspx?&articleIdx=59&m=3
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ť§Áý
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