New versions of software based on a popular file-compression technology could create headaches for users through their use of incompatible formats.
For more than a decade, Zip has been the most common format for shrinking files in order to more easily store them or transmit them over the Internet. Dozen of software programs, including tools built into recent versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, can read and decompress any file bearing the .zip extension.
But that accessibility has changed since the release, earlier this year, of a new version of the PKZip application for creating and reading Zip files from PKWare, the small, Wisconsin-based software maker that created and published the Zip standard. The new version and a subsequent update include advanced security features that--for now--are exclusive to PKWare.
Connecticut-based WinZip, creator of the most popular competing Zip utility, responded last month with a new version of its software. The WinZip update includes similar security extensions, but they're based on different encryption keys that are incompatible with PKWare's format.
Both programs use the basic .zip file extension to designate both secure and standard files. The upshot? People who receive a file with .zip now won't know until they try to open it whether it's one of three types: a secure file accessible only through PKWare's software; a secure file accessible only through WinZip; or a standard Zip file that can be accessed by any compression utility.
"The last thing you want to do is send someone an important file in a format they can't read," said Amy Wohl, an independent technology analyst.
PKWare and WinZip have pointed to each other as the source of the potential confusion. WinZip needed to add security enhancement to its software to stay competitive, company executives have said--and without access to PKWare's encryption scheme, it had no choice but to come up with its own.
The rival companies both sell data-compression utilities with tools for creating and managing compressed files, and these both compete with basic decompression programs available free from other software makers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5062423.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed
For more than a decade, Zip has been the most common format for shrinking files in order to more easily store them or transmit them over the Internet. Dozen of software programs, including tools built into recent versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, can read and decompress any file bearing the .zip extension.
But that accessibility has changed since the release, earlier this year, of a new version of the PKZip application for creating and reading Zip files from PKWare, the small, Wisconsin-based software maker that created and published the Zip standard. The new version and a subsequent update include advanced security features that--for now--are exclusive to PKWare.
Connecticut-based WinZip, creator of the most popular competing Zip utility, responded last month with a new version of its software. The WinZip update includes similar security extensions, but they're based on different encryption keys that are incompatible with PKWare's format.
Both programs use the basic .zip file extension to designate both secure and standard files. The upshot? People who receive a file with .zip now won't know until they try to open it whether it's one of three types: a secure file accessible only through PKWare's software; a secure file accessible only through WinZip; or a standard Zip file that can be accessed by any compression utility.
"The last thing you want to do is send someone an important file in a format they can't read," said Amy Wohl, an independent technology analyst.
PKWare and WinZip have pointed to each other as the source of the potential confusion. WinZip needed to add security enhancement to its software to stay competitive, company executives have said--and without access to PKWare's encryption scheme, it had no choice but to come up with its own.
The rival companies both sell data-compression utilities with tools for creating and managing compressed files, and these both compete with basic decompression programs available free from other software makers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5062423.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed