Windows 11 receives an update that will allow it to manage “RAR” compressed files. No need for specialized software. Bad news for the WinRAR program.
May 23, 2023 may go down in history as the date that marked the death of WinRAR. Presenting the developments to come in Windows 11, Microsoft has slipped into its large summary information far from trivial for the famous data compression software. And for good reason: we can very well do without it in the future.
Windows 11 will handle rar, 7-zip, gz and tar files
The reason ? Windows 11 now natively supports additional file formats dedicated to data compression. Among them is the RAR format, invented by computer scientist Eugene Roshal, who also had the good idea to develop ad hoc compression and decompression software. This is what gave WinRAR, in 1995.
This announcement could have gone under the radar, as Microsoft’s announcements were centered on artificial intelligence. The software giant has mentioned the imminent arrival of a personal assistant on Windows 11 (Copilot AI, based on Bing Chat, itself based on GPT-4). He also cited the improvement of Bing Chat in its free version to search the web.
Native support in Windows 11 also extends to tar, 7-zip and gz formats, which are also prevalent on the web. Microsoft explains that it took advantage of the merits of the open source Libarchive project to improve its operating system. Libarchive also supports pax, cpio, zip, xar, ar formats and half a dozen others.
The Windows 11 upgrade marks the end of WinRAR, but probably also the end of an era: the economic model of this software is based in principle on a paid license (30 euros, without VAT, for one user), but includes a 40-day trial period during which one can freely use the software.
In fact, this deadline has never been too much of a problem for Internet users, many of whom have implemented schemes to circumvent it. When the expiry message appears, it is possible to step over it and continue to use the software. The net is also full of discussion threads and educational articles to dodge WinRAR’s call to order.
These tricks have also ended up spawning jokes about how WinRAR manages to carry on its business. The 9gag site is full of photomontages wondering how society is still living in 2023, the lack of real consequence at the end of 40 days, the enthusiasm that must seize teams when an Internet user buys a license, and so on.
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