Dear PowerArchiver users,

After 3 months of private beta testing with alpha testers as well as users with an active PowerArchiver Select maintenance and support plan, we are ready to start public beta testing of PowerArchiver 2017!. This is the most important PowerArchiver version in our not-so-short history (PA started development in 1998. first release in 1999), as we begin the introduction of the Advanced Codec Pack – .pa format.

Here are some of the highlights of PowerArchiver 2017:

Advanced Codec Pack

Advanced Codec Pack – .pa format is an advanced collection of codecs and filters that, when combined together, create the .pa format. It features two main modes:

  • Optimized Strong mode brings very strong compression to .pa format, with special codecs for pdf/docx files, exe/dll files, jpeg files, text/html files and many more. It provides for best overall compression currently available in professional compression software. Compared to WinZIP (zipx), it is several times faster while providing for better compression.
  • Optimized Fast mode that is optimized for speed and includes the super fast base codec as well as data deduplication and exe/dll filters. This combination of codecs and filters is much faster than zip while also creating smaller files.

    • Advanced codec pack is an add-on that is free for all users with an active PowerArchiver Select maintenance and support plan. Users without a PowerArchiver Select plan will receive special email offers for PowerArchiver 2017 Toolbox with Advanced Codec pack (or contact us). All of the features of the Advanced Codec Pack are included in all PowerArchiver versions (Standard/Professional/Toolbox). Click here for more info.

    64bit version, Interface changes, Dual Explorer mode, Portable version, etc.

  • 64bit version – Advanced Codec Pack can use maximum ram and cpu from your system, which lead us to creating a native 64bit version of PowerArchiver. It is now recommended to always use the 64bit version of PowerArchiver to get the maximum performance from .pa format.
  • Dual panel explorer mode – Dual explorer panels for easier file management.
  • Faster ZIP/ZIPX engine – by many benchmarks, our ZIP/ZIPX engine was already the fastest. Now it is even faster!
  • Multithreaded 7zip engine – up to 8x faster than before, along with additional improvements for 7zip support.
  • Portable version – Fully supported portable version for USB drives! Both 32bit and x64 bit!
  • Improved interface – Streamlined options, faster start time, better support for skins, beautiful looking.
  • PowerArchiver for Office – Our Microsoft Office add-ins now support Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel as well as additional features in Microsoft Outlook.

    • Click here for more info.

    Award system for our most dedicated users

    With the launch of private beta of PowerArchiver 2017, we have a more formal reward system for users that help us in detecting bugs and suggesting improvements. While previously we have given free licenses to our forum users (in 2013 everyone with more than a few posts received a free license, alpha testers always have updated licenses, etc), now there is a more formal system in place which means that everyone who reports bugs will receive a free license or a free Select maintenance plan after a few reports (depending on severity). Check it out on our forums.

    PowerArchiver 2017 with Advanced Codec Pack (.PA) is now available from our download page. For more detailed info on specific features, please check other posts in our blog. We hope you will love PA 2017 as much as we do. Thank you for your support since 1998!