#Unzip a windows zip file on a mac archive#

If you're using Windows XP, then your operating system has built-in support for Zip files. Windows cannot open a file or run a program directly from a Zip file. Although some Zip / Unzip applications make it look as though you can open a file directly from a Zip file, in fact they must extract a copy of the file to a temporary storage area and open this temporary copy.

#Unzip a windows zip file on a mac archive#

However, the files must be extracted or unzipped from the archive before they can be used. They are also a very convenient way to package and send groups of related files. Zip files are used because they take up less space to store, and take less time to send or download. This is called 'lossless compression.' The compression methods used with JPG image files or MP3 music files are called 'lossy compression' because some of the quality of the original image or sound is lost during the compression process. In short, Zip files are a space-saving way of storing single files or groups of related files.įiles in a Zip archive will decompress to exactly their original state. And the name neatly describes a way of packaging up a file or group of files.

It isn't the best, and it wasn't even the first, but it is certainly the most widespread. 'Zip' is the name given to the compression algorithm originally developed by Phil Katz. There are many different compression techniques in use today.

'Compressed' means that mathematical techniques have been used to reduce the space needed to store the files, so that the size of the archive may be much smaller than the size of the files it contains. The term 'Archive' in this context means that the file may contain one or more files, or even folders, much like folders on your hard disk.