ALZip
Encyclopedia
ALZip is an archive
and compression
utility from ESTsoft
for Microsoft Windows
.
n software company ESTsoft in response to employee frustration with using the English interface in WinZip
.
The Korean interface was immediately well received and later that year ALZip was publicly released as freeware
. In just over a year ALZip became the most popular zip program in Korea and by December 2001 was the top downloaded software in the country. By 2004 it had reached a 70% market share
in South Korea. The popularity of the software and the ALZ archive format played a large role in earning ESTsoft a place in the Digital Innovation Awards Top 100 Companies in South Korea with the software taking special mention.
Early in its development ALZip introduced the ALZ file format to deal with file size limitations of the ZIP
file format. ALZ compression has no theoretical upper limit for file size
s, as they are only limited by operating system
limits or the amount of available storage
. The file format has become common in Korea.
The first English version was released in 2002. Since then, support for over 20 languages has been added.
, however in October 2001 changed to free for home use, with government usage requiring a software license. In April 2002, business license was also introduced, commercial usage. Licensing was based on the honor system
, and there were no nag screens.
With the version 7 release, the license was changed from freeware to adware
, displaying downloaded banner ads, and finally beginning 1 December 2008, all new releases are shareware
requiring a paid license except in its original Korean language, which requires no licensing fee.
: 알집), literally EggZip. Other ALTools feature similar egghead cartoon characters as mascots for each program.
Additionally, ALZip integrates into the “New Folder” function of Windows Explorer
, where new folders are created with the option of using custom icons and names.
to develop their own algorithms.
The current version of "빵집" supports ALZ format.
and, in ALZip 8.0 beta version, ESTsoft made some format. *.EGG
File archiver
A file archiver is a computer program that combines a number of files together into one archive file, or a series of archive files, for easier transportation or storage...
and compression
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
utility from ESTsoft
ESTsoft
Founded in 1992, ESTsoft is a South Korean application software development company. Its software ranges from desktop to business software for enterprises.-Products:...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
History
Originally ALZip was developed in 1999 as an internal application at the South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n software company ESTsoft in response to employee frustration with using the English interface in WinZip
WinZip
WinZip is a proprietary file archiver and compressor for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, developed by WinZip Computing...
.
The Korean interface was immediately well received and later that year ALZip was publicly released as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
. In just over a year ALZip became the most popular zip program in Korea and by December 2001 was the top downloaded software in the country. By 2004 it had reached a 70% market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...
in South Korea. The popularity of the software and the ALZ archive format played a large role in earning ESTsoft a place in the Digital Innovation Awards Top 100 Companies in South Korea with the software taking special mention.
Early in its development ALZip introduced the ALZ file format to deal with file size limitations of the ZIP
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
file format. ALZ compression has no theoretical upper limit for file size
File size
File size measures the size of a computer file. Typically it is measured in bytes with a prefix. The actual amount of disk space consumed by the file depends on the file system....
s, as they are only limited by operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
limits or the amount of available storage
Computer storage
Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
. The file format has become common in Korea.
The first English version was released in 2002. Since then, support for over 20 languages has been added.
Licensing changes
Originally ALZip was released as pure freewareFreeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, however in October 2001 changed to free for home use, with government usage requiring a software license. In April 2002, business license was also introduced, commercial usage. Licensing was based on the honor system
Honor system
An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. Something that operates under the rule of the "honor system" is usually something that does not have strictly enforced rules governing its principles...
, and there were no nag screens.
With the version 7 release, the license was changed from freeware to adware
Adware
Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. They may also be in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the user during...
, displaying downloaded banner ads, and finally beginning 1 December 2008, all new releases are shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
requiring a paid license except in its original Korean language, which requires no licensing fee.
Naming and mascots
The name “ALZip” was chosen, as the “AL” part is a transliteration from the Korean “aljip” (HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 알집), literally EggZip. Other ALTools feature similar egghead cartoon characters as mascots for each program.
Additionally, ALZip integrates into the “New Folder” function of Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
, where new folders are created with the option of using custom icons and names.
Issues on file format
In 2003, there was a controversy over ALZip's own compression format ALZ, when a developer of another Korean compression utility, "빵집" insisted that ALZip users were forced to use the ALZip archiver when decompressing ALZ files. He also insisted that ESTsoft does not offer decompression libraries, and third-party archiver developers have used reverse engineeringReverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
to develop their own algorithms.
The current version of "빵집" supports ALZ format.
and, in ALZip 8.0 beta version, ESTsoft made some format. *.EGG
External links
- ESTsoft site
- ALTools site
- Flickr pages with various ALTools Eggheads
- unalz - open-source decompressor for ALZip files, for Windows and Linux