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RAR is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning. It was developed by a Russian software engineer, Eugene Roshal (hence the name RAR: Roshal ARchive), and is currently licensed by win.rar GmbH as well as being an acronym for ‘Rational And Reliable’.

The file extension RAR is used by RAR for the data volume set and .rev for the recovery volume set. In previous versions, if a RAR-archive was broken into many smaller files (a “multi-volume archive”), then the smaller files used the extensions .rar, .r00, .r01, .r02 etc.

Comparing to ZIP file format, file extension RAR provides a number of advanced features: more convenient multipart (multivolume) archives, tight compression including special solid, multimedia and text modes, strong AES-128 encryption, recovery records helping to repair an archive even in case of physical data damage, Unicode support to process non-English file names and a lot more.

File extension RAR supports data compression, spanning and error recovery. Though less common, RAR files are also used to denote a Resource Adapter Archive, which is the specified format for the deployment of resource adapters, or connectors, on IBM’s WebSphere Application Server.

RAR files typically take longer to compress, though have a higher compression ratio than other popular archiving formats such as File extension ZIP or GZIP. The exact improvement in compression largely depends on the types of file being compressed. As well as data compression, RAR files support spanning, which means that archives can be split across multiple volumes. In this case, the first file in the archive will retain the RAR file extension, with subsequent volumes numbered in the form File extension R00 up to File extension R99. The entire archive can be browsed by opening the original RAR file. This was a particularly useful feature for compressing large volumes of data. Some RAR files may also contain a recovery volume, which allows the contents of an archive to be restored in the even of minor corruption. RAR archives also support password protection and strong 128-bit AES encryption algorithms.

Currently, RAR files can only be created using commercial software such as WinRAR or Squeeze, both of which are only available on Windows. The command-line version, RAR, can be used to create and extract archives on Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX-based operating systems. However, RAR file can be opened and the contents extracted by several applications such as WinZIP, WinAce and Stuffit, courtesy of the freely available UnRAR source code from RARLAB which allows developers to incorporate RAR decompression into their applications.

Microsoft has finally delivered the browser that its fans have been anticipating, hopefully.
Today during his keynote speech at the Mix 09 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada Dean Hachamovitch, the head of the IE8 development team, launched the new browser.

It is currently available for download in 25 languages on the Microsoft website and can be downloaded to Windows XP, Vista, and Server in either 32-bit or 64-bit editions.

This launch follows behind the release of Silverlight Beta, and the preview of Expression Blend 3 web design and prototyping tool.

It would seem that Microsoft is finally delivering for the people.”Customers have made clear what they want in a Web browser — safety, speed and greater ease of use,” Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft said in a statement (conveniently managing to avoid mentioning anything about standards compliance, even though that is a greatly improved area in IE8.) “With Internet Explorer 8, we are delivering a browser that gets people to the information they need, fast, and provides protection that no other browser can match.”

The browser leaves much to be desired when it comes to JavaScript and extensions however Microsoft claims it packs a little more punch than Mozilla’s Firefox in its initial no add-ons state in terms of browsing capabilities. For example it is equipped with Accelerators, tab assistance, search improvements and WebSlices. InPrivate browsing also known as “porn mode” which leaves no evidence that a browsing session ever existed to those who use the PC after you, additionally it prevents the monitoring of your browsing activities by third parties. Microsoft now has a Smart Address bar which is similar to Firefox’s “Awesome Bar.”

Microsoft really needs to pat itself on the back this time for launching its first standards compliant browser. This means that it fully supports Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1. Older versions of IE required backward compatibility on Microsoft’s thoroughly broken interpretation of web standards. IE8 comes equipped with a standards mode and an IE7 mode, which allows users to render sites which have been built to previous IE specifications. IE8 comes with an “auto render” mode that uses a Web site list which has determined which sites are known to have trouble rendering correctly in IE8. If someone happens to stumble upon one of those sites while browsing then it will automatically render in IE7 by default.

You can download IE8 here, though as usual if you work in a large organisation there’s a high chance you have a lazy IT manager clinging to IE6 because it is compatible with all the lazily written apps produced or commissioned by the IT department. In that case you’ll need to find a way to break the download and installation restrictions on your work PC and simultaneously lobby the IT manager’s boss to understand why tying the company to a five year old web browser is going to be bad for the company in the long term.

Source: APCMag.com

RAR is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning. It was developed by a Russian software engineer, Eugene Roshal (hence the name RAR: Roshal ARchive), and is currently licensed by win.rar GmbH as well as being an acronym for ‘Rational And Reliable’.

The file extension RAR is used by RAR for the data volume set and .rev for the recovery volume set. In previous versions, if a RAR-archive was broken into many smaller files (a “multi-volume archive”), then the smaller files used the extensions .rar, .r00, .r01, .r02 etc.

Comparing to ZIP file format, file extension RAR provides a number of advanced features: more convenient multipart (multivolume) archives, tight compression including special solid, multimedia and text modes, strong AES-128 encryption, recovery records helping to repair an archive even in case of physical data damage, Unicode support to process non-English file names and a lot more.

File extension RAR supports data compression, spanning and error recovery. Though less common, RAR files are also used to denote a Resource Adapter Archive, which is the specified format for the deployment of resource adapters, or connectors, on IBM’s WebSphere Application Server.

RAR files typically take longer to compress, though have a higher compression ratio than other popular archiving formats such as File extension ZIP or GZIP. The exact improvement in compression largely depends on the types of file being compressed. As well as data compression, RAR files support spanning, which means that archives can be split across multiple volumes. In this case, the first file in the archive will retain the RAR file extension, with subsequent volumes numbered in the form File extension R00 up to File extension R99. The entire archive can be browsed by opening the original RAR file. This was a particularly useful feature for compressing large volumes of data. Some RAR files may also contain a recovery volume, which allows the contents of an archive to be restored in the even of minor corruption. RAR archives also support password protection and strong 128-bit AES encryption algorithms.

Currently, RAR files can only be created using commercial software such as WinRAR or Squeeze, both of which are only available on Windows. The command-line version, RAR, can be used to create and extract archives on Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX-based operating systems. However, RAR file can be opened and the contents extracted by several applications such as WinZIP, WinAce and Stuffit, courtesy of the freely available UnRAR source code from RARLAB which allows developers to incorporate RAR decompression into their applications.