Download PowerArchiver 2010 11.50 Beta 1

ConeXware is developing the next generation of its PowerArchiver archiving utility and released the first beta release of version 11.5 yesterday. This program can handle the most common archive types, such as zip, 7z, cab, lha tar, gzip, bzip2, rar, arj, arc and ace. In addition, it can also read CD or DVD images, such as iso, bin, img and nrg. PowerArchiver is available in two different versions: a standard and a professional edition. The first contains everything we’ve come to expect from the old PowerArchiver; the other can also burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs, create ISO files and also mount them as a virtual drive, and finally can also be used as an ftp client. New in version 11.5 includes support for Windows 7; WinZip 11 and 12 formats have also been introduced, and the program has become a lot faster due to multicore support. Below is the full changelog for this release:

New Zip Engine:

• Multicore support – from 2x to 8x faster than WinZip 12
  Support for dual core, quad core and i7 computers for nearly up to 8x speed improvement over competing utilities that do not have multicore zip support (WinZip, WinRar). Multicore compression is supported for deflate and LZMA methods.
• Support for WinZip 11 and 12 formats
  Full support for LZMA, PPMd, WavPack and BZIP2 compression methods for full compatibility with WinZip 11 and partial compatibility with WinZip 12.
• Unicode support
  PowerArchiver 2010 supports Unicode zip standards, compatible with all major archivers that support unicode.

Windows 7 support

• Full Windows 7 support
  First on the market with support for latest operating system from Microsoft. PowerArchiver supports jump lists, taskbar progress and taskbar icon overlays. Check for more info at PowerArchiver Blog entry..
• Skinning support with DirectSkin 6.0
  First application with latest DirectSkin 6.0 engine for skinning support of Windows 7 (32bit only).

PA Shell Extensions 2.0

• Added Extract MRU shell extensions.
• Added Compress to MRU zip shell extensions.
• Added FTP profiles in shell extension, directly ftp from shell.

Backup Improvements

• Moved backup to standalone application for easier handling, faster load times.
• You can add multiple folders in backup file list.
• Considerably faster zip backup when handling 10,000+ files.
• Better info on files/folders in file list (number/size).
• Fixed major issue with 7-Zip backups and larger number of files.

And much more…

• Interface improvements in Modern interface – faster and better looking.
• Interface improvements in Classic interface – more MRUs, more usable.
• New Add window in main PowerArchiver, most usable options are now shown on first screen.
• You can now select multiple folders in all folder selection windows (backup, tools, etc).
• Optimized 7-Zip’s Optimized compression – Ultra and Max feature stronger compression now.
• Added New Folder and Network buttons in Add window, improved look of other icons.
• Unicode support for other formats that support Unicode in rest of PowerArchiver interfaces.
• Added method property in file list and properties window.
• Other smaller improvements, and more major ones coming.