The .zip compression format has known remarkable stability and compatibility for many years, but that may soon change. PKWare
and WinZip Computing, makers of competing compression and encryption products, are fighting over the .zip standard -- which
means that .zip archive files created by one program may not be accessible by the other.
Both companies recently changed their implementations of the .zip format. In May, WinZip released a beta version of WinZip
9 that alters the .zip format. PKWare made its changes earlier, but recently posted specifications detailing its changes to
the format.
PKWare is the company founded by .zip inventor Phil Katz, who died in 2000. Katz decided to make the .zip format an open standard,
free for anyone to read or use when designing a program. This open standard allowed for the creation of PKWare's chief competitor,
WinZip, which now dominates the market.
Positive Change
The .zip format couldn't stay the same forever. For one thing, it desperately needed adequate encryption. The long-established
.zip 2.04g specification's password protection couldn't stop a reasonably knowledgeable hacker.
PKWare responded to these needs, slowly rolling out options such as certificate-based security and 256-bit AES encryption.
The recently released beta version of WinZip 9 boasts 256-bit AES encryption as well (without certificates). Although both
programs use AES, the encrypted archives aren't compatible.
WitholdingDetails?
Since PKZip's encryption hit the market first, why didn't WinZip make its product compatible? Because PKWare didn't tell WinZip
how. Until PKWare's recent release, the company hadn't updated its posted specification since 2001; the encryption details
simply weren't available.
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