Compression



Chart 1

Chart 1 legend:
(1)= created using WinAce,
(2)= created using Quick Zip,
(3)= created using WinRar,
(4)= created using 7-Zip.
WinAce, WinRar, WinZip and ZipZag are shareware, 7-Zip and QuickZip are freeware.

Chart 2

Chart 2 programs info:
WinZIP 9.0,
WinAce 2.6,
WinRar 3.4 beta2,
7-Zip 3.13.
IZArc 3.4.1.6,

If you are missing certain formats it is because I found them too exotic.
WinAce, WinRar, WinZip and ZipZag are shareware, 7-Zip and IZArc are freeware.

7-Zip supports (i.e. it is able to read) formats .zip, .rar, .cab, .gz, .tar, .bz2.
Packs into .zip, .gz, .tar, .bz2.
Easy to use, very simple yet powerful.

WinRar packs into .rar a .zip, .exe (sfx archive) archives only.
Support formats .rar, .zip, .cab, .arj, .lzh, .ace, .tar, .gz, .uue, .bz2, .jar, .iso

WinAce packs into .ace, .lha, .cab, .zip, .jar, .gz, .tar, .tar.gz.
Supports formats .ace, .zip, .arj, .lha, .rar, .cab, .arc, .gz, .tar, .jar, .tar.gz.

I also tried ZipZag (shareware).
Just because it supports .a, .ace, .aks, .arc, .arj, .b64, .bz, .bza, .bz2, .cab, .cpio, .czip, .deb, .enc, .gca, .gz, .gza, .jar, .jha, .lib, .lzh, .lzs, .pak, .pk3, .rar, .rpm, .rs, .tar, .taz, .tb2, .tbz, .tbz2, .tgz, .tz, .uu, .uue, .wad, .wmz, .wsz, .xxe, .yz1, .z, .zip.
Packs into .zip, .cab, .lzh, .rs, .yz1, .gza, .bza, .tgz, .tbz, .tar + can make sfx archives.
If you need something supporting such an amount of formats, I guess you won't find anything better.

And now one pretty famous one: WinZip.
PSupports .arc, .arj, .b64, .bhx, .cab, .gz, .hqx, .lzh, .mim, .tar, .taz, .tgz, .tz, .uu, .uue, .xxe, .z, .zip.
Packs only into .zip, .exe (sfx) and, similarly to WinRar and WinAce, it allows you to encode selected archives.

I suggest IZArc. It supports most casual formats like .zip, rar, .... It is easy to use, has good looks + skinability and it is available for free. I use it my self.