There are two reasons to use file compression: to save space and to better organise your files.

One of the key claims made by the new version of Winzip is that it can compress Jpeg picture files by a further 20 to 25 per cent. The Jpeg format is the most common type of picture file used by digital cameras and it already includes compression, so it's unusual for a compression tool to be able to squeeze them further.

The Winzip 12 display is very similar to that of previous versions. When you run the program, it looks like a standard file utility program with a series of large, cartoony icons at the top. To create a new Zip archive, you drag files from other browsers into Winzip. Winzip 12’s Best Compression mode automatically selects the best type of compression for different types of file, so music files may well receive a different type of compression from photos, videos or Word documents. The user doesn't have to worry about which type to use.

A new facility in Winzip 12 can connect to a digital camera and download images directly into a Zip file. This makes it very easy to organise photos at the same time as reducing their size as you can select specific images and even rotate them automatically (if your camera provides information on their orientation).

To test the new compression we took a 429KB Jpeg picture file and compressed it using an older version of Winzip. It squeezed just 2KB out of it, leaving a 427KB Zip file. Using Winzip 12 in its Best Compression mode it produced a 343KB file, which is around 20 per cent smaller.

The only snag with these super-compressed picture files is that they won't be usable by people who don't have copies of Winzip 12 installed on their PCs. If you compress a file or series of files in Best Compression mode, you won't be able to extract the files on any computer without Winzip 12, not even if it has an earlier version of Winzip. As time goes on, though, more compression packages should adopt the new compression techniques and it’ll be easier to share the new files.