*********** ARCHIVE COMPARISON TEST (A.C.T.)  -  MARCH 1995 ***********
*                       Author:  JEFF GILCHRIST                       *
***********************************************************************
*   A.C.T. may be re-posted or distributed only if the contents are   *
*   not changed under any circumstances and the contents are posted   *
*   in their entirety.                                                *
***********************************************************************

## NEW INFO PLEASE READ ##
There are many new things in this edition of A.C.T. including the
ability to join the A.C.T. Mailing List where you will get the
latest edition of A.C.T. emailed to you automagically at the
beginning of each month.  To join the mailing list, send email to:
jeffg@mi.net with the subject:  SUBSCRIBE ACT <your email address>

The following is a little test I did on several archivers to compare
their performance against others.

For the following tests with single file types, I used a 486DX4-75 with
8 megabytes of RAM.  No CACHE was used at all!  For the timing, Ultra
Precision Command Timer v1.6 by Erik de Neve was used.  The operating
system used was DOS 6.22.  I compressed the tested files from my hard
drive to a 2 megabyte RAM drive.


                    ***  PART 1 - SINGLE FILE TESTS  ***


TEXT File Test     -     Uncompressed Size 768,771 bytes


    ARCHIVER        SWITCHES        CREATION TIME     COMPRESSED SIZE
    --------        --------        -------------     ---------------

 B  HA 0.999b       e2               0 m 34.1 sec      235,767 bytes
 O  HAP 3.14e11     3                0 m 14.1 sec      260,103 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    -c5              9 m 42.6 sec      271,960 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93    -c5              9 m 47.0 sec      271,960 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93    (none)           1 m 37.1 sec      287,113 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    (none)           1 m 37.0 sec      287,179 bytes
    HPACK 0.79a0    -df              0 m 48.5 sec      299,072 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Max Compress)   0 m 35.3 sec      302,026 bytes
    ARI 1.12        -n               2 m 20.5 sec      302,200 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       -mx              0 m 21.2 sec      310,872 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       (none)           0 m 19.6 sec      311,187 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        -mm              0 m 50.2 sec      311,279 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Default)        0 m 16.5 sec      311,884 bytes
    HA 0.999b       e1               0 m 26.4 sec      312,016 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      -q(ALT236)       0 m 26.3 sec      312,330 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -9 -j            0 m 18.0 sec      312,371 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     -ex              0 m 14.8 sec      312,604 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      -c9              0 m 19.7 sec      312,653 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep -m5 -s       0 m 30.3 sec      312,726 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -j               0 m 14.6 sec      313,466 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      (none)           0 m 16.1 sec      313,787 bytes
    AIN 2.2         /m1              0 m 10.4 sec      314,299 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      (none)           0 m 18.2 sec      315,028 bytes
 N  BSArc 1.9.3     (none)           0 m 21.2 sec      315,482 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep              0 m 16.9 sec      315,851 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     (none)           0 m 10.2 sec      316,113 bytes
    AIN 2.2         (none)           0 m 08.3 sec      317,659 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -jm -e           0 m 17.0 sec      318,939 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -jm -e           0 m 17.0 sec      318,939 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -e               0 m 15.7 sec      319,172 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -e               0 m 15.7 sec      319,172 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        (none)           0 m 16.7 sec      327,646 bytes
    LHA 2.55b       -we:             0 m 17.0 sec      339,110 bytes
 N  AR 0.02         (none)           0 m 30.7 sec      339,118 bytes
    SAR 1.0         (none)           0 m 31.8 sec      339,118 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        h:               0 m 30.1 sec      339,245 bytes
    PUT 3.41        (none)           0 m 21.5 sec      339,642 bytes
    HYPER 2.5       (none)           0 m 09.8 sec      345,887 bytes
 N  PAK 2.51        (none)           0 m 10.9 sec      347,608 bytes
 N  SQWEZ 2.1       /s               0 m 31.3 sec      365,224 bytes
    ARX 1.0         (none)           0 m 10.3 sec      369,545 bytes
 N  DWC 5.01        (none)           0 m 09.0 sec      380,301 bytes
    SQWEZ 1.0       (none)           0 m 31.4 sec      384,670 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        :                0 m 13.0 sec      391,750 bytes
    JRCHIVE 1.02    -v               0 m 09.7 sec      416,982 bytes
 F  ARC 6.02        (none)           0 m 05.3 sec      418,511 bytes

Winner for best compression   :  HA 0.999b B
Winner for fastest compression:  ARC 6.02 F
Winner for best overall       :  HAP 3.14e11 O

N Indicates a new version of the software tested since the last posting
  of these tests.


EXE File Test      -     Uncompressed Size 425,488 bytes


    ARCHIVER        SWITCHES        CREATION TIME     COMPRESSED SIZE
    --------        --------        -------------     ---------------

 B  QUANTUM 0.93    -c5              3 m 21.4 sec       97,315 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    -c5              3 m 22.2 sec       97,315 bytes
    ARI 1.12        -n               2 m 41.1 sec       98,831 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep -m5 -s       0 m 13.6 sec      100,295 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93    (none)           0 m 21.4 sec      101,443 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    (none)           0 m 21.4 sec      101,443 bytes
    HA 0.99b        e1               0 m 13.8 sec      101,496 bytes
 O  RAR 1.53        -ep              0 m 04.9 sec      101,625 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      -c9              0 m 10.5 sec      103,042 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Max Compress)   0 m 25.6 sec      103,502 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       -mx              0 m 13.0 sec      103,645 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      (none)           0 m 05.2 sec      103,710 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        -mm              0 m 22.7 sec      103,811 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -9 -j            0 m 15.7 sec      103,929 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       (none)           0 m 04.8 sec      104,147 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     -ex              0 m 06.7 sec      104,249 bytes
    AIN 2.2         /m1              0 m 04.0 sec      104,857 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -jm -e           0 m 14.6 sec      104,976 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -jm -e           0 m 14.7 sec      104,976 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      -q(ALT236)       0 m 30.0 sec      105,088 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -j               0 m 04.9 sec      105,454 bytes
    AIN 2.2         (none)           0 m 03.4 sec      105,515 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     (none)           0 m 04.3 sec      105,547 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Default)        0 m 06.7 sec      105,570 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -e               0 m 05.5 sec      105,657 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -e               0 m 05.7 sec      105,657 bytes
    PUT 3.41        (none)           0 m 09.3 sec      105,863 bytes
 N  BSArc 1.9.3     (none)           0 m 06.2 sec      105,900 bytes
    LHA 2.55b       -we:             0 m 07.0 sec      105,949 bytes
 N  AR 0.02         (none)           0 m 13.4 sec      105,957 bytes
    SAR 1.0         (none)           0 m 13.9 sec      105,957 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      (none)           0 m 05.7 sec      106,023 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        h:               0 m 13.1 sec      106,084 bytes
    HPACK 0.79a0    -df              2 m 37.8 sec      107,956 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        (none)           0 m 05.8 sec      108,678 bytes
    HYPER 2.5       (none)           0 m 04.7 sec      109,587 bytes
 N  SQWEZ 2.1       /s               0 m 17.6 sec      112,393 bytes
    HA 0.999b       e2               0 m 39.4 sec      113,013 bytes
    HAP 3.14e11     3                0 m 12.4 sec      113,738 bytes
    ARX 1.0         (none)           0 m 08.9 sec      118,701 bytes
 N  PAK 2.51        (none)           0 m 07.2 sec      122,829 bytes
    SQWEZ 1.0       (none)           0 m 17.4 sec      131,839 bytes
 N  DWC 5.01        (none)           0 m 03.6 sec      157,188 bytes
    JRCHIVE 1.02    -v               0 m 05.6 sec      157,909 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        :                0 m 07.5 sec      158,449 bytes
 F  ARC 6.02        (none)           0 m 03.0 sec      161,589 bytes

Winner for best compression   :  QUANTUM 0.93 B
Winner for fastest compression:  ARC 6.02 F
Winner for best overall       :  RAR 1.53 O

N Indicates a new version of the software tested since the last posting
  of these tests.


<*> This is a new section to A.C.T. replacing the DLL file test.
    One hundred percent of the people who voted on which sound format
    I should use for the test, chose MOD/699 format.

669 File Test  -  (8 bit, 8 Channel)  Uncompressed Size 1,314,481 bytes


    ARCHIVER        SWITCHES        CREATION TIME     COMPRESSED SIZE
    --------        --------        -------------     ---------------

 B  HA 0.999b       e2               2 m 04.4 sec      636,442 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Max Compress)   2 m 25.7 sec      684,686 bytes
    HPACK 0.79a0    -df              2 m 30.8 sec      691,175 bytes
 O  HAP 3.14e11     3                0 m 35.4 sec      704,531 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    -c5             46 m 51.3 sec      719,128 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    (none)           2 m 20.5 sec      738,987 bytes
    ARI 1.12        -n               3 m 44.2 sec      756,636 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep -m5 -s       0 m 40.6 sec      769,910 bytes
    HA 0.999b       e1               0 m 42.9 sec      769,923 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       -mx              0 m 50.1 sec      770,759 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       (none)           0 m 45.4 sec      770,880 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep              0 m 25.2 sec      771,679 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Default)        0 m 27.5 sec      773,316 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     -ex              0 m 27.7 sec      774,780 bytes
    AIN 2.2         /m1              0 m 20.0 sec      776,613 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      -q(ALT236)       0 m 38.1 sec      778,244 bytes
    AIN 2.2         (none)           0 m 14.8 sec      779,886 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -jm -e           0 m 25.0 sec      780,613 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -e               0 m 21.2 sec      780,662 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      (none)           0 m 25.8 sec      780,831 bytes
 N  BSArc 1.9.3     (none)           0 m 31.1 sec      781,375 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     (none)           0 m 18.4 sec      782,772 bytes
    PUT 3.41        (none)           0 m 34.5 sec      784,604 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -9 -j            0 m 26.4 sec      785,102 bytes
    LHA 2.55b       -we:             0 m 26.8 sec      786,069 bytes
 N  AR 0.02         (none)           0 m 49.4 sec      786,077 bytes
    SAR 1.0         (none)           0 m 51.5 sec      786,077 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      -c9              0 m 23.4 sec      786,097 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        h:               0 m 48.4 sec      786,204 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      (none)           0 m 22.3 sec      786,352 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -j               0 m 20.6 sec      786,760 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        -mm              2 m 26.2 sec      788,463 bytes
    ARX 1.00        (none)           0 m 20.2 sec      815,339 bytes
 N  PAK 2.51        (none)           0 m 17.9 sec      817,011 bytes
 N  SQWEZ 2.1       (none)           0 m 50.4 sec      817,479 bytes
    HYPER 2.5       (none)           0 m 18.5 sec      821,782 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        (none)           0 m 30.1 sec      833,738 bytes
 N  DWC 5.01        (none)           0 m 11.1 sec      871,519 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        :                0 m 23.9 sec      880,276 bytes
    JRCHIVE 1.02    -v               0 m 16.5 sec      899,525 bytes
 F  ARC 6.02        (none)           0 m 09.9 sec    1,067,359 bytes

Winner for best compression   :  HA 0.999b B
Winner for fastest compression:  ARC 6.02 F
Winner for best overall       :  HAP 3.14e11 O

N Indicates a new version of the software tested since the last posting
  of these tests.


BMP File Test      -     Uncompressed Size 481,080 bytes


    ARCHIVER        SWITCHES        CREATION TIME     COMPRESSED SIZE
    --------        --------        -------------     ---------------

 B  HA 0.999b       e2               0 m 09.9 sec       19,320 bytes
 O  HAP 3.14e11     3                0 m 05.2 sec       19,638 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93    -c5             15 m 20.6 sec       25,019 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    -c5             15 m 21.8 sec       25,019 bytes
    ARI 1.12        -n               1 m 16.8 sec       25,241 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      -c9              0 m 06.8 sec       25,292 bytes
    HA 0.999b       e1               0 m 12.3 sec       25,412 bytes
    CODEC 3.10      (none)           0 m 03.7 sec       25,485 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     -ex              0 m 05.5 sec       25,506 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0    -9 -j            0 m 13.6 sec       25,633 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Max Compress)   0 m 22.9 sec       25,640 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       -mx              0 m 12.8 sec       25,660 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      -q(ALT236)       0 m 30.6 sec       25,696 bytes
    AIN 2.2         /m1              0 m 03.9 sec       25,736 bytes
    LHA 2.55b       -we:             0 m 08.9 sec       25,910 bytes
 N  AR 0.02         (none)           0 m 16.8 sec       25,918 bytes
    SAR 1.0         (none)           0 m 17.5 sec       25,918 bytes
    PUT 3.41        (none)           0 m 11.7 sec       25,920 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -jm -e           0 m 14.2 sec       26,007 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -jm -e           0 m 14.3 sec       26,007 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        -mm              0 m 24.5 sec       26,020 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        h:               0 m 16.5 sec       26,045 bytes
    AIN 2.2         (none)           0 m 03.0 sec       26,106 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93    (none)           0 m 24.1 sec       26,437 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96    (none)           0 m 24.2 sec       26,437 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g     (none)           0 m 02.9 sec       26,442 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2       (none)           0 m 04.6 sec       26,886 bytes
    HPACK 0.79a0    -df              6 m 57.2 sec       27,124 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a       -e               0 m 05.3 sec       27,293 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42b BETA  -e               0 m 05.5 sec       27,293 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep -m5 -s       0 m 11.0 sec       28,251 bytes
 N  BSArc 1.9.3     (none)           0 m 06.4 sec       28,457 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3      (none)           0 m 05.1 sec       28,816 bytes
    UC2 v2.0        (Default)        0 m 05.0 sec       29,412 bytes
    AMGC 2.2        (none)           0 m 05.3 sec       30,869 bytes
 N  DWC 5.01        (none)           0 m 25.9 sec       31,084 bytes
    HYPER 2.5       (none)           0 m 04.5 sec       31,440 bytes
    ZOO 2.10        :                0 m 06.3 sec       31,655 bytes
    RAR 1.53        -ep              0 m 04.0 sec       32,230 bytes
 F  ARC 6.02        (none)           0 m 02.2 sec       32,389 bytes
    JRCHIVE 1.02    -v               0 m 05.4 sec       32,618 bytes
 N  SQWEZ 2.1       (none)           0 m 08.3 sec       33,146 bytes
    ARX 1.00        (none)           0 m 18.3 sec       33,649 bytes
 N  PAK 2.51        (none)           0 m 04.4 sec       39,239 bytes
    SQWEZ 1.0       (none)           0 m 08.5 sec       52,592 bytes

Winner for best compression   :  HA 0.999b B
Winner for fastest compression:  ARC 6.02 F
Winner for best overall       :  HAP 3.14e11 O

N Indicates a new version of the software tested since the last posting
  of these tests.


                   ***  PART 2 - MULTIPLE FILE TEST  ***


I compressed a directory containing 21 files totalling 3,255,838 bytes
on my hard drive to a 2 megabyte RAM drive.  This directory contained
the original files from the Calgary Corpus archive (CALGARYCORPUS.ZIP)
which contains text, binary and graphical files.  I used a 486DX4-75
with 8 megabytes of RAM to do this test.  No CACHE was used at all!
For the timing, Ultra Precision Command Timer v1.6 by Erik de Neve was
used.  The operating system used was DOS 6.22.

Here are my results:

    ARCHIVER      SWITCHES   EXTRACT TIME  COMPRESS TIME  COMPRESSED SIZE
    --------      --------   ------------  -------------  ---------------

 B  HA 0.999b     e12        2 m 39.8 sec   4 m 29.0 sec    883,651 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93  -c5        1 m 00.4 sec  34 m 28.5 sec    934,429 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96  -c5        1 m 00.0 sec  34 m 29.5 sec    934,429 bytes
    HAP 3.14e11   3          1 m 17.5 sec   1 m 02.5 sec    969,576 bytes
 N  QUANTUM 0.96  (none)     1 m 01.5 sec   4 m 55.7 sec    981,470 bytes
    QUANTUM 0.93  (none)     1 m 01.1 sec   4 m 55.9 sec    981,912 bytes
    HPACK 0.79a0  -df        0 m 35.3 sec  11 m 38.4 sec  1,023,107 bytes
    ARI 1.12      -n         0 m 16.3 sec   9 m 23.7 sec  1,024,569 bytes
    UC2 2.0       (Max Comp) 0 m 15.3 sec   2 m 04.7 sec  1,026,666 bytes
    CRUSH 1.3+UC2 -n -u      0 m 27.7 sec   2 m 14.6 sec  1,032,744 bytes
    RAR 1.53      -ep -m5 -s 0 m 14.6 sec   1 m 51.5 sec  1,047,783 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2     -mx        0 m 13.6 sec   1 m 07.3 sec  1,054,168 bytes
    HA 0.999b     e          0 m 35.1 sec   1 m 31.8 sec  1,054,534 bytes
 O  UC2 2.0       (Default)  0 m 15.6 sec   0 m 53.7 sec  1,054,814 bytes
    LIMIT 1.2     (none)     0 m 13.6 sec   0 m 56.4 sec  1,056,022 bytes
    CRUSH 1.3+HA  -n -h      0 m 46.5 sec   1 m 48.4 sec  1,057,050 bytes
    CODEC 3.10    -c9        0 m 22.9 sec   1 m 07.9 sec  1,062,145 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3    -q(ALT236) 0 m 16.1 sec   1 m 48.2 sec  1,062,520 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0  -9 -j      0 m 15.8 sec   1 m 05.3 sec  1,063,059 bytes
    AMGC 2.2      -mm        0 m 18.0 sec   2 m 21.4 sec  1,063,358 bytes
    CRUSH 1.3+ZIP -n         0 m 24.8 sec   1 m 17.0 sec  1,063,540 bytes
    RAR 1.53      -ep        0 m 16.1 sec   0 m 50.1 sec  1,064,522 bytes
    CODEC 3.10    (none)     0 m 22.9 sec   0 m 51.5 sec  1,065,126 bytes
    PKZIP 2.04g   -ex        0 m 13.9 sec   0 m 52.4 sec  1,065,291 bytes
    AIN 2.2       /m1        0 m 12.6 sec   0 m 39.7 sec  1,066,922 bytes
    INFO-ZIP 2.0  -j         0 m 15.9 sec   0 m 45.1 sec  1,070,443 bytes
    SQZ 1.08.3    (none)     0 m 16.1 sec   0 m 56.7 sec  1,073,012 bytes
 N  BSArc 1.9.3   (none)     0 m 13.3 sec   1 m 04.2 sec  1,074,194 bytes
    AIN 2.2       (none)     0 m 12.6 sec   0 m 29.3 sec  1,075,730 bytes
 Q  PKZIP 2.04g   (none)     0 m 12.0 sec   0 m 33.0 sec  1,077,029 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42bBETA -jm -e     0 m 15.3 sec   1 m 07.3 sec  1,081,242 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a     -jm -e     0 m 13.7 sec   1 m 07.8 sec  1,081,242 bytes
    CRUSH 1.3+ARJ -n -j      0 m 26.2 sec   1 m 12.7 sec  1,083,212 bytes
 N  ARJ 2.42bBETA -e         0 m 14.2 sec   0 m 51.2 sec  1,083,663 bytes
    ARJ 2.41a     -e         0 m 13.5 sec   0 m 51.7 sec  1,083,663 bytes
    AMGC 2.2      (none)     0 m 13.4 sec   0 m 47.6 sec  1,114,898 bytes
    LHA 2.55b     -we:       0 m 14.1 sec   1 m 03.0 sec  1,142,342 bytes
    SAR 1.0       (none)     0 m 29.2 sec   2 m 13.0 sec  1,142,363 bytes
    ZOO 2.10      h:         0 m 18.1 sec   1 m 54.8 sec  1,143,300 bytes
    PUT 3.41      (none)     0 m 18.3 sec   1 m 20.1 sec  1,144,112 bytes
 N  PAK 2.51      (none)     0 m 16.3 sec   0 m 38.4 sec  1,191,665 bytes
    HYPER 2.5     (none)     0 m 25.2 sec   0 m 36.4 sec  1,192,686 bytes
 N  SQWEZ 2.1     (none)     0 m 21.2 sec   1 m 55.5 sec  1,236,777 bytes
    ARX 1.00      (none)     0 m 20.7 sec   0 m 57.4 sec  1,251,447 bytes
    SQWEZ 1.0     (none)     0 m 20.7 sec   1 m 53.9 sec  1,256,143 bytes
 N  DWC 5.01      (none)     0 m 13.2 sec   0 m 21.1 sec  1,457,491 bytes
    ZOO 2.10      :          0 m 28.2 sec   0 m 52.0 sec  1,494,933 bytes
    JRCHIVE 1.02  -v         0 m 53.9 sec   1 m 00.0 sec  1,578,966 bytes
 F  ARC 6.02      (none)     0 m 15.3 sec   0 m 19.5 sec  1,590,185 bytes
 N  AR 0.02       (none)     ** DOES NOT EXCEPT WILDCARDS **

Winner for best compression   :  HA 0.999b B
Winner for fastest compression:  ARC 6.02 F
Winner for quickest extraction:  PKZIP 2.04g Q
Winner for best overall       :  UC2 2.0 O

N Indicates a new version of the software tested since the last posting
  of these tests.

* Please note that the switches listed above apply only during
  compression and not during extraction.


QUANTUM 0.96 - This release is slightly faster and uses a little less
               memory.  A bug with storing directories has been fixed.
               Undocumented level 6 & 7 compression has been added.

ARJ 2.42b BETA - Many bugs have been fixed and many small features
                 have been added.  ARJ can now support multi-volume
                 SFX.  A switch was added to allow up to 32,000 files
                 to be archived at one time.  A new feature to allow
                 graphical displays while using ARJ, DEARJ and ARJSFX
                 has also been added.  No performance changes.

SQWEZ 2.1 - A more advanced shell has been added to SQWEZ.  In version
            1 you could only create SFX files but this version adds
            the ability to make .SQZ files which decreases the final
            archive size.  Several other features have also been added.

DWC, SQWEZ, PAK, - Special thanks to Peter Hubinsky (hubak@elf.stuba.sk)
BSA and AR         for sending me these archivers to test.

UPCT 1.6 - Special thanks to Jonathan Burt (jonathan@jaburt.demon.co.uk)
           for sending me this great freeware timing utility.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

         As you may or may not have noticed, I have been releasing these
test results about once a month.  I have decided to release the results
on the first day of each month and name these tests A.C.T.

* Please note that the best overall selection is based entirely on the
archiver's compression/speed ratio.  It is NOT based on the reliability,
price, technical support or the options available in the archiver.

        I have decided to add an Options List which shows what archivers
support certain major options.  If you think I should add another
category to the list or you see an error, please let me know.  If there
is an error, please tell me what switch will activate the command that
I missed.

---------------------------- OPTIONS LIST ------------------------------

             MULTI-
             DISK      AUTH.           'SOLID'         DATA     GUI/TEXT
ARCHIVER     SPANNING  VERI.  ENCRYPT  ARCHIVES  SFX  PROTECT.   SHELL
--------     --------  -----  -------  --------  ---  --------  --------
AIN 2.2          X             X-???
AMGC 2.2         X             X-???
AR 0.02
ARC 6.02                       X-???
ARI 1.12         X             X-???              X       X
ARJ 2.42b        X       X     X-XOR              X
ARX 1.00
CODEC 3.10                     X-???
CRUSH 1.3                                         X
DWC 5.01                       X-???              X
HA 0.999b
HAP 3.14e11                                               X
HPACK 0.79a0     X       X     X-PGP       X              X
HYPER 2.5
INFO-ZIP 2.0     *             X-???              X
JRCHIVE 1.02                                      X
LHA 2.55b                                         X
LIMIT 1.2
PAK 2.51                 X     X-???              X
PKZIP 2.04g      X       X     X-???              X
PUT 3.41                                                            X
QUANTUM 0.96     X
RAR 1.53         X       X     X-???       X      X                 X
SAR 1.0
SQWEZ 1.0                                         X
SQWEZ 2.1                                         X                 X
SQZ 1.08.3                                        X
UC2 2.0          *       X     #-DES       %     soon     X       soon
ZOO 2.10

------------------------------------------------------------------------

AUTH. VERI.  =  Authentication Verification (Security Envelope)
DATA PROTECT.  =  Data Protection Encoding (Stores Error Recovery Info)
ENCRYPT  =  Ability to encrypt files in archive with password (Garble)
SFX  =  Ability to create Self-Extracting Archives (.EXE)
GUI/TEXT SHELL = Graphical or Text Shell to manage archiver functions
                 and select files for compression/decompression

* - UC2 comes with a utility (SAS.EXE) to SPLIT archives into chunks
    and then rebuild them after.  This is not nearly as nice as
    multi-disk spanning.
  - INFO-ZIP comes with a utility called ZIPSPLIT which does the same
    thing as UC2's SAS utility.

# - You need to use ULTRACRYPT to get Triple DES encryption with UC2.
    This is a seperate shareware utility that is not built into UC2.

% - " UC2 uses shared dictionaries between file collections to utilize
    similarities between files. The compression is comparable to solid
    archives (RAR compresses about as well as UC2) but updates are much
    faster. " - Nico de Vries [AIP-NL, UltraCompressor II development]


-------------------------------- INDEX ----------------------------------

ARCHIVER  RELEASE                AUTHOR & (INTERNET E-MAIL)
--------  -------  ------------------------------------------------------

AIN       Jul '94  Transas Marine (UK) Ltd.  (100125.3526@compuserve.com)
AMGC      Nov '93  Milen Georgiev
AR        Oct '90  Haruhiko Okumura  (74050.1022@compuserve.com)
ARC       Jan '89  S.E.A. Inc.
ARI       Jan '93  RAO Inc.
ARJ       Jan '95  Robert Jung  (robjung@world.std.com)
ARX       Jan '95  Michael A. Kosior  (mkosior@acad.bryant.edu)
BSARC     Mar '92  Serg Babitchew
CODEC     Sep '93  Telvox Teleinformatica  (100064.125@compuserve.com)
CRUSH     Oct '94  J. Rollason  (100031.3537@compuserve.com)
DWC       May '88  Dean W. Cooper
HA        Jan '95  Harri Hirvola  (harri.hirvola@vaisala.infonet.com)
HAP       Dec '94  Harald Feldmann  (harald.feldmann@almac.co.uk)
HPACK     May '93  Peter Gutmann  (pgut@cs.aukuni.ac.nz)
HYPER     Sep '90  P. Sawatzki & K. Nischkle  (in307@dhafeu11.bitnet)
INFOZIP   Sep '93  Info-ZIP  (info-zip@wkuvx1.bitnet)
JRCHIVE   Nov '93  JAYAR Systems
LHA       Jul '91  Haruyasu Yoshizaki  (coo236@sinet.ad.jp)
LIMIT     Feb '94  J Y Lim  (jlim@sunlab.cit.cornell.edu)
PAK       Oct '90  NoGate Consulting
PKZIP     Feb '93  PKWARE Inc.  (support@pkware.com)
PUT       Jan '95  Jim Hass  (73057.3113@compuserve.com)
QUANTUM   Dec '94  Cinematronics  (davids@cruzio.com)
RAR       Dec '94  Eugene Roshal  (as@hq.icb.chel.su)
SAR       Mar '93  Streamline Design
SQWEZ     Aug '94  Jim Miller
SQZ       Jan '93  Jonas Hammarberg
                   (Jonas.Hammarberg@p24.f107.n200.z2.fidonet.org)
UC2       Jul '94  Ad Infinitum Products  (desk@aip.nl)
ZOO       Jul '91  Rahul Dhesi  (dhesi@bsu-cu.bsu.edu)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Anyone wishing to send me updated versions of archivers or email
may use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) v2.6 or above to encrypt the info.
Listed below is my PGP public key which you can use to encrypt a binary
file or ascii file into RADIX-64 ascii format.  After you have encrypted
the file, you can then send it to me via email at my Internet address
listed below.  When you use my public key to encrypt something with PGP,
only I can decrypt the file so you can be certain that whatever you send
will only be seen by me.

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2

mQCNAy53etMAAAEEAM9FrKHl4ZSsNl15zzbtYZoC48e4WT83AsdH5vHr7P0npRIM
unbDNUdBbQ0ZGppG4a0ccYpLs8EAkGJLGL28JCZzk4LDCLxCn14VoeVZSV25S0mj
1ApwoTUrzqWsrdbaeGdeJ1IBxG2zc9SMMDq3htPcGzb/KQvAbbgiZykcOlgBAAUR
tB1KZWZmIEdpbGNocmlzdCA8amVmZmdAbWkubmV0Pg==
=HI+u
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

        If you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to
send me some EMAIL and I will try and reply as soon as I can.

INTERNET:  jeffg@mi.net     <--- # Please note the NEW email address #
                                 The PGP key above has also been updated
                                 to reflect my new email address.

*** INFORMATION REQUESTED ***
If anyone knows the encryption methods that are (???) unknown in
the archiver Option List, please email and let me know.  Thanks!

** NEXT MONTH **
I will probably be changing the .BMP test from an 8 bit Cartoon BMP to
a 24 bit picture BMP.  Since most people deal with graphical pictures
this should give a better representation of which archiver is the
best for the job.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
|  The latest copy of Archive Comparison Test (A.C.T.),        |
|  can be viewed by fingering:  s0b8@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

-= JEFF GILCHRIST =-   (Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada)
- Author Of A.C.T. -   Internet:  jeffg@mi.net
