Why use ZIP files?

A ZIP file is a compressed collection of one or more files in a bundled package. There are several advantages to ZIP files that have led to their popular use over the years:

* You can bundle up two or more MP3 audio files plus PDF instruction files and even additional catalog or marketing materials into one single download.

* ZIP files pass through virus and spam filters to arrive intact.

* ZIP files compress the contents, when possible, for quicker downloads and to save disk space.

* ZIP files can be un-zipped (uncompressed) on any platform computer, and has become such a ubiquitis file format that Windows Vista has actually built-in ZIP and unZIP into the desktop.

* Most ZIP software lets you password protect and encrypt a file as it is compressed, adding additional access control and privacy. The encryption is not a secure encryption, however, and should not be relied upon (downloadable cracker tools can quickly break the encryption in the hands of knowledgeable users).

* ZIP files are easily archived. If one of the files that has been extracted from the ZIP file is lost or deleted, the user can simply unZIP the file again to get fresh copies of the contents.

You can recognize ZIP files because they end with the ".zip" filename extension.