ZipGenius news

#ZipGenius 6.3.2.3100 is available

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:10:03 +0200

ZipGenius 6.3.2.3100 is available for download :)

Here is the changelog:

CryptoZip updated to v2.3 (a ZGTool for older CZIp archive conversion will be released later in october)
Menu items were re-arranged for a more rational location.
Cosmethic bugfixes
Compression dialog redesigned and made resizable
Extraction dialog redesigned and made resizable
Extraction dialog: "By Folder" option disabled if no subfolder is in archive
Extraction dialog: fixed disk space calculator
SFX: fixed Autorun (A1 from command line) option
New Archive Dialog: button shows "Create" in place of "Open"
Most Recently Used list: fixed showing not-created new archives
User picture for ZGSignature: program reverts to default pic if an invalid pic is selected
Minor bugfixes

Plus we have to rewrite the license in order to specify that NOBODY CAN REPACK THE ZIPGENIUS SETUP NOR SUBORDINATE THE DOWNLOAD TO THE USE OF CUSTOM DOWNLOADERS THAT WILL SUGGEST TO OUR USERS TO INSTALL TOOLBARS, EXTENSIONS, UTILITIES AND OTHER CRAPWARE NOT RELATED TO ZIPGENIUS: THAT ACTION HAS NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY WININIZIO.IT SOFTWARE!

As we wrote in our Facebook page, Wininizio.it Software will take action against websites and individuals that are trying to squeeze some money from the ZipGenius project, which is absolutely free and shipped without unauthorized third parties software.

As usual, get ZipGenius from:

http://downloads.zipgenius.it or http://downloads.zipgenius.com

Thanks :)

ZipGenius roadmap for 2011/2012

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:15:04 +0200

We promised to disclose our roadmap for the season 2011/2012 and here it is.

ZipGenius Roadmap 2011-2012

As you can see, the big change announced some day ago is the END OF DEVELOPMENT OF ZIPGENIUS 6: we took this decision in order to open the road to ZipGenius 7 and ZipGenius for Android. These products will be fully integrated and they will share a lot of features (and some code). But ZG6 codebase must be optimized to port some features to Android, so we have to "translate" code from Delphi to Java and we also have to change some routine in ZG6 for Windows.

One modification we made is the "CryptoZip" code that will produce CZIP encrypted archives that older releases of ZipGenius 6 cannot read - don't worry: we are designing a CZIP archive viewer for backward compatibility and we will release it as a ZGTool. The newer build of ZipGenius (appearing in september) will use the new code and will automatically convert older CZIP archives using CryptoZip v2.1 into CZIP archives made with the newer CryptoZip v2.3. This change will not involve any performance increase.

Later on but before unplugging the ZG development environment (6 years old!!!), we will also modify the ZGSignature code in order to make it work in Java and we will release a newer ZG build for Windows: Also in this case, zip archives signed with older code will be automatically converted and the new signature can't be read by older ZipGenius releases (we will release a converter ZGTool).

Finally, ZG6 will die. It will get only very small bugfixes and its development will get the lowest priority, while ZG7 and ZG for Android will be developed at increased speed and we will try to release ZG for Android in March 2012 and ZG7 in June.

Hold on! We are also designing a new website!

We will never forget! 9/11/2001 - 9/11/2011

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:26:01 +0200

Ten years have passed quickly like seconds in a minute but our memory is still clear and we couldn't forget the horrible sight broadcasted from every TV channel in the world. We were here, in Italy, but we felt to be there with our fellows.

Ten years didn't delete those images. We will never forget!

Statement on security report regarding #ZipGenius appeared on "Exploit Database"

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:12:36 +0200

Last week we got some mail from users that were telling us about an entry in the "Exploit Database" archive. The report is stating that ZipGenius 6.3.2.3000 is affected by a "buffer overflow exploit" that could execute arbitrary code. Putting aside the fact the author of that report didn't respect the good habit to contact the developer when a new security issue is found, that statement is just "useless" and "not entirely true" for the following reasons:
1) the Python code attached to that report produces a specially crafted ZIP archive that contains only a file whose filename is longer than 255 characters. This was a VERY OLD ISSUE found in many zip utilities (including ZipGenius); in our case, we solved it by putting a check on filenames length while reading the file list of an archive: if a filename is longer than 255 chars, ZipGenius alerts the user about the potential danger and disables every extraction feature in order to avoid the related consequences. In other words, the report didn't uncover anything new.
2) we compiled a specific build of ZipGenius that didn't have the security check enabled and we tried to extract the specially crafted file in a sandboxed environment because we wanted if ZipGenius could really crash and run "calc.exe". Well... It didn't work: ZipGenius just crashed but no calculator popped up. But wasn't the exploit supposed to execute arbitrary code upon crash? Yes, it was but it does it only if you attach a debugger application, which is a developer utility that can take over the execution of an application and let the developer investigate on bugs and other issues: this is done by slowing down the execution time of an application. We attached the zipgenius.exe file to a debugger software and repeated the test until the program crashed as expected. At that point, the debugger kicked in showing every useful data for the developer and the Windows Calculator magically appeared. That was the only condition that let us see the the result of the exploit as reported. In few words, then, the exploit is just a proof of concept working only in given circumstances and not in common conditions, but remember: ZipGenius is protecting you against this exploit since 2003, just as explained above.
3) The ZipGenius Team is always committed to produce safe software but we cannot know about every kind of exploit of similar isues in the world: users and researchers contributions are really precious for us, so if you find any potential security issue, please don't imitate the author of that report, contact us and we will find together if that issues could be really harmful or not.

The ZipGenius Team

Updates on @ZipGenius activity

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 11:17:41 +0200

Hello friends.
Here is a brief update about what's going on in ZipGenius project.
1) Announced ZipGenius for Windows update will slip to Monday due to lack of time (hey, it's summertime ;) ).

2) The Android version of ZipGenius is growing fast. We are currently focusing more on user interface design than on strict features development because - as already explained in the past - we would like to offer one of the better Android user experience. This means that we are deeply studying the latest innovations in Android design patterns and we adding them to what already exists. In fact we have touched the main screen once again and now we offer a true dashboard with big and colorful icons, as you can see in the attached picture. In the lower part of this screen you can see a ZG Logo: later we will add a "Tip of the day" message on the right side of it. While this design is really good for us, this doesn't mean that it's in the final stage: 90% is final and we think we will still add some artwork to break the "total white" background; moreover, in the final relase, the user will be allowed to set a dark background.

And what about tablets? We are also designing the tablet layout of our app. We're making Honeycomb-compatible with lots of ActionBars that will offer complete information while keeping everything clean and nice. Unfortunately we have no physical tablet to test that layout on a true device, so we are asking our user to help us, by signing up as alpha testers (it needs just an e-mail at zginfo@zipgenius.it with the subject "ZGAndroid - Alpha Tester") and telling us what are your device specs.
The only progress we made on the features side is to implement a lot of file checksum routines to calculate the checksum value of currently open archive. We've added these algorithms: MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512, Adler32, CRC32. We are looking forward to implement other algorithms like RIPEMD128, RIPEMD160, Tiger and Whirlpool.

Stay tuned for more

#ZipGenius 6 will get an update next week

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:00:09 +0200

We are in the process of building a new update for ZipGenius 6 (or ZipGenius for Windows ;) ). The new build number will be 6.3.2.3100 and it will show very small bugfixes, and when we say small we really mean "small": you might not see what's been fixed - unless you use a magnifying glass.

If you think that something should be fixed, please submit your reports until saturday, July 23rd.

#ZipGenius on #Android: first screen capture

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:31:56 +0200

Here is the first screen capture for ZipGenius on a real Android Device.

#ZipGenius on #Android: now it's official!

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:26:58 +0200

This time we're going the official way.

Android will get its version of ZipGenius, the free compression suite for Windows.

ZipGenius for Android will support only ZIP archives in the first stage, but it will offer a lot of features available in the Windows version, like "Explorer-like" browsing, ZGSignature for zip archives and so on; moreover, it will offer features that can be available only on mobile devices (take pictures through device camera, zip them up and share the archive through one of the available sharing service on device).

Currently we are in the interface design stage. We don't want to offer a really nice looking but useless interface and we don't want an ugly but absolutely functional environment: we are designing every day a new piece of the user interface and maybe we find the need to modify it the very next day because we think that is not working the way we would.

We don't want also to emulate other Zip utilities for Android, then ZipGenius will not act as a file manager that could fill the lack of a stock file browser utility: we think that there are good applications of this kind out there, like Astro File Manager, ES File Explorer or OpenIntents File Manager, which are all free and very well conceived. ZipGenius will be just a zip utility. If you need to create, open or decompress a Zip archive, it will do it for you, but don't ask it to browse your device's filesystem.

We are looking for ALPHA-testers: if you are interested into this, please contact us at ZGINFO (@) ZIPGENIUS.IT telling your name and your Android device - no emulators, thanks.

More info coming over the next weeks.

We're not out of business ;)

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:24:00 +0200

We got a lot of e-mail messages asking why we aren't updating ZipGenius as promised some month ago and some user was worried about the fate of Wininizio.it Software.

Don't worry! We're not out of business: we are just too busy with a lot of projects of any kind.

In fact, we are actively developing the mobile application for Wininizio.it website on Android. This is a really time-consuming task because we have to study a lot of the Android SDK, Java and Android GUI guidelines. The "Wininizio.it" mobile application will allow users to connect through their Wininizio.it accounts to the message board, to news, topics and blogs posts; they will alos receive notifications about the availability of newly added news, topics, blog posts or if some favorite topic got updated with new messages in the board.

This is not meaning that we have abandoned ZipGenius: we just lowered its priority in our development process (too few heads and hands ;) ) in order to spin out the Wininizio.it Android App as soon as we can. Moreover, the Android development we are conducting is opening a new road for the ZipGenius project: we dreamed it and now we are able to create it. It is ZipGenius for Android. We will start developing it around september or october 2011. Why we WANT to port ZipGenius to Android? That's quite simple: there are a lot of devices out there already running Android up to Gingerbread version 2.3.x. Those are all almost smartphone and just some small tablet. However there is a batch of powerful and truly new devices going to hit the market and most of them are tablets with Honeycomb 3.x. We think that Android-powered tablets are going to conquer a large user base, the same base that currently is using a Windows-powered netbook. This people is always looking for some powerful device, while being extremely light, portable and always connected to the net, and the answer will be (almost for sure) the next-gen of Android tablets. So, why don't we port our beloved utility to this new environment? The conditions are the exactly the same as in 1997, when ZipGenius for Windows was conceived and created. The Android Market already has some zip utility of file managers with compression features but none of them as the "ZipGenius touch" you know. We will start developing ZG for Android and we are already listing the essential features. If you want to help, you could submit the request for a specific feature you would love to see in ZG for Android; we will review all the features request and we will consider if and how to implement them.

Stay tuned!

#ZipGenius 6.3.2.3100 will come on saturday

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:27:32 +0200

Finally we decided to let out the next ZG 6 update on Saturday. We are working to get RAR archives working again, so fingers crossed!!!

A new #ZipGenius 6 update in a couple of days...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:29:49 +0200

A new ZipGenius 6 update will come in a couple of days and it will fix small bugs found in version 6.3.2.3000.

Stick around! :)

French and Hungarian langpacks for #ZipGenius are available!

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:33:26 +0200

French and Hungarian langpacks for ZipGenius 6.3.2.3000 are available!

Get them at http://translate.zipgenius.com

Language files coming for #ZipGenius

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:46:29 +0200

Tomorrow we will release French and Hungarian language packs for ZipGenius 6.3.2.3000.

Check them back!!!

The #ZipGenius File Repository welcomes you.

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:04:54 +0200

We are happy to announce the grand opening of the ZipGenius Files Repository, our archive of past ZipGenius editions (up to ZipGenius 1.4).

We did it because we think that everyone should use the ZipGenius version that felt good for his/her needings. Having the latest release might not be the best decision if you have an aging PC with an old version of Windows, so the latest releases of ZipGenius - conceived to run on Windows 7 x86 and x64 machines - may give you troubles.

So if you still want to use ZipGenius on old fashioned personal computers, you could find the perfect ZipGenius release for you in the ZG File Repository.

The archive is not 100% complete and we are missing some release and/or edition. We lost all of our past release in bad disk crash two years ago and we would like to thank @atar2k (Paul ) for sending us all the old releases he had.

Also, soon it will offer direct downloads for other ZipGenius stuff like skins and ZGTools.

The ZipGenius Files Repository is located at http://files.zipgenius.it

#ZipGenius 6.3.2.3000 is available!

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:27:04 +0200

ZipGenius 6.3.2.3000 is available!

Here is the changelog:

Fixed (once for all) missing text from context menu in Windows 64-bit edition
Fixed missing text in user interface when converting ZIP to CZIP from context menu
Fixed "Open Destination Folder" option not working after extraction
Compression and Extraction dialogs were redesigned in order to smaller and suitable for netbook-sized displays
Fixed Drop-to-ZipGenius wizard for archives (it was not switching to MultiOpen)
Added warning when user tries to shut down ZipGenius while previewing a file
Fixed bug while user was trying to shut down ZipGenius until previewing a file (archive doesn't close, now)
Fixed UI bugs related to MultiOpen
Added link to Facebook page
Added link to Twitter page
Added link to Feedburner page
About dialog has been resized to appear smaller than before
Command line module partially rewritten (and Unicode compliant)
Added the "Prodotto Italiano" mark

As usual, get ZipGenius from http://downloads.zipgenius.it or http://downloads.zipgenius.com.

More updates will come during the next days: stay connected!

New langfile for ZipGenius translators

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:50:56 +0200

Dear #ZipGenius translators, we have updated the langfile to version 306.

Take a look at this page: http://www.zipgenius.com/index.php?id=87

Please, update your translations. We just added line #1296.

ZipGenius 6.3.2 is coming up!

#ZipGenius translators get ready!

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:55:44 +0100

This is a call for all ZipGenius translators!

On Sunday we will release ZG 6.3.2.1000 where we had to add some text strings. The language file version now is 306: we will update online as soon as possible.

Hold on!

Here is the patch for 64 bit context menu!!!!

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:50:22 +0100

Here is the patch for 64 bit context menu!!!!

Pssst... Don't tell this to anybody: here is an exclusive patch for you all following our RSS feed, Twitter or Facebook page. It is the patch you were waiting for and it should fix the ZipGenius context menu in 64 bit versions of Windows once for all.

Download it from this link and move on: it will be available for just one week!

Auguri #Italia!

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:38:18 +0100

Auguri Italia, auguri agli Italiani: non vergognatevi di esporre un tricolore alla finestra solo perché non ci sono i Mondiali di calcio! Tanta gente ha lottato e ha dato la vita per farci essere ciò che siamo oggi: #ITALIANI!!!

Viva l'Italia, Viva gli Italiani!

Preview of the 6.3.1.2660 update

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:50:41 +0100

On March 17th, #ZipGenius will get an update. Here is a preview of what will change.

Fixed (once for all, we hope) the missing text bug from the context menu in Windows 64 bit versions.
Fixed missing text from user interface while converting a ZIP to CZIP through the context menu.
Fixed "Open Destination Folder" not working with any kind of archive.

This list of bugfixes is not final and is subject to last minute changes because we are also working on fixing some extraction issues from the context menu or from the command line.

Get in touch! :)