7zX

Besides RAR and ZIP, 7Zip is another archive format that offers a high compression ratio. What's more, 7Zip is a very straight forward compression utility. Files can be compressed and extracted without interacting with a complex user interface and it doesn't take long to complete the operations. 7zX brings this efficient functionality to Mac OS X. If you are not satisfied with the operating system's Stuff Expander, you can turn to this smart and powerful application. It gives you the possibility of compressing files at a moment's notice, with only a few clicks.

You can place 7zX's .dmg file directly on your desktop or on your dock. The application works through drag and drop, so you only need to drag a selection of files or a folder and drop it over the 7zX icon. This will bring up a new window, on which you can make a few basic settings. The application lets you choose a compression level, set a volume size, protect the archive with a password and type in additional parameters. What's more, you can decide to preserve the Macintosh resource forks and to make the archive self-extracting. If your settings are in order, you can hit the OK button, on the same window and the application will do the rest.

7zX provides many other advantages. For example, compressed files will retain their metadata, so it will be available at all times, regardless if you extract the files on your own Mac or on a different one. The best part is that 7zX archives can be extracted on any Mac, even if it doesn't have the application installed.