How do i open .rar files on a mac?

[michael31986]

i don't know what program i should get. I don't really even like the idea of having to download something to extract it, but whats the safest and easiest program!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by michael31986

i don't know what program i should get. I don't really even like the idea of having to download something to extract it, but whats the safest and easiest program!

Did you try double-clicking them? I can't recall if Mac OS X can natively unzip .rar files or not. If not, use StuffIt Expander or UnRarX or The Unarchiver or iZip

[Neolithium]

I use the unarchiver. Great piece of software.

[RedRaven571]

Originally Posted by Neolithium

I use the unarchiver. Great piece of software.

Yep! That's the one I use, too.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Neolithium

I use the unarchiver. Great piece of software.

Originally Posted by RedRaven571

Yep! That's the one I use, too.

Have you tried any of the others? Are there any advantages to one over the other? I installed StuffIt Expander a long time ago and haven't found any need to revisit that choice, although I have no allegiance to any of them. It simply works. I'm wondering if it doesn't matter and it's just what you're used to, or if there's a distinct advantage to one over the others.

[michael31986]

thanks guys! just got unarchiver! btw i know this is off topic, but any song i download as soon as i play it after i download it, it gets automatically added to my iTunes folder and i can delete the song from downloads? is this normal? apple does this automatically? assuming it copies it to the iTunes folder by itself!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by michael31986

thanks guys! just got unarchiver! btw i know this is off topic, but any song i download as soon as i play it after i download it, it gets automatically added to my iTunes folder and i can delete the song from downloads? is this normal? apple does this automatically? assuming it copies it to the iTunes folder by itself!

It automatically adds it to iTunes whenever you play a song. If you want iTunes to copy the file, as it's doing, yes, you can delete the song from your Downloads folder, since iTunes has made its own copy. If you don't want iTunes managing your music files, uncheck these boxes in iTunes Preferences and it won't make copies or move your files. It will use your existing files where they are.

[iThinkergoiMac]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Have you tried any of the others? Are there any advantages to one over the other? I installed StuffIt Expander a long time ago and haven't found any need to revisit that choice, although I have no allegiance to any of them. It simply works. I'm wondering if it doesn't matter and it's just what you're used to, or if there's a distinct advantage to one over the others.

I've tried Stuffit. It was the bastion of unarchiving in the days of Classic Mac OS, in no small part because .sit was so popular. I've found it to be less than elegant today, though. The Unarchiver is my personal favorite, in large part because it runs so seamlessly in the background. I only ever see it when I uncompress something, otherwise it's invisible (as far as the GUI is concerned). Stuffit, OTOH, launches an app every time you uncompress something. Also, I believe that The Unarchiver supports more formats than Stuffit, but it's been a while since I compared the two.

[michael31986]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

It automatically adds it to iTunes whenever you play a song. If you want iTunes to copy the file, as it's doing, yes, you can delete the song from your Downloads folder, since iTunes has made its own copy. If you don't want iTunes managing your music files, uncheck these boxes in iTunes Preferences and it won't make copies or move your files. It will use your existing files where they are.

Attachment 316299

ooh very nice! i love that it does that! i don't have to worry about moving it into an organized file! loving this mac! even though I'm sure this feature was available on my PC lol

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by iThinkergoiMac

Stuffit, OTOH, launches an app every time you uncompress something. Also, I believe that The Unarchiver supports more formats than Stuffit, but it's been a while since I compared the two.

Yes, I see that Stuffit briefly opens an app when it uncompresses, but it goes away before I even notice it. I never see it unless I'm uncompressing a file.

Originally Posted by michael31986

ooh very nice! i love that it does that! i don't have to worry about moving it into an organized file! loving this mac! even though I'm sure this feature was available on my PC lol

Yes, it was available on the Windows version, as well. If you don't want to manage your files and don't care how they're organized, leave those boxes checked. If you're like me, and spent years getting your file names and folder structure the way you want it, uncheck the boxes and iTunes will leave your organization intact.

[Neolithium]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Have you tried any of the others? Are there any advantages to one over the other? I installed StuffIt Expander a long time ago and haven't found any need to revisit that choice, although I have no allegiance to any of them. It simply works. I'm wondering if it doesn't matter and it's just what you're used to, or if there's a distinct advantage to one over the others.

I haven't found any distinctive advantage, it was the first one I grabbed and have just been happy with its flawless performance. I did end up choosing it over others due to large numbers of people here on MR recommending it, I've become used to it and really can't complain.

[gullySn0wCat]

The Unarchiver is free open source software, so that always counts as a bonus

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by gullySn0wCat

The Unarchiver is free open source software, so that always counts as a bonus

As the others are also free, what advantage does that offer, in terms of functionality in real-world everyday use?

[heisenberg123]

the unarchiver

[gullySn0wCat]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

As the others are also free, what advantage does that offer, in terms of functionality in real-world everyday use?

Because you are supporting software that is free and OPEN. For example, if some other compression format comes along, then it would be trivial for you to personally add support to it to an open source program. Good luck with anything else

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by gullySn0wCat

Because you are supporting software that is free and OPEN.

StuffIt Expander is free. And I expect software to support me, not the other way around.

Originally Posted by gullySn0wCat

For example, if some other compression format comes along, then it would be trivial for you to personally add support to it to an open source program. Good luck with anything else

I'll worry about that if and when another compression format comes along, and if and when I have a need to uncompress files using that yet-to-be-created format. So, in other words, there's no advantage whatsoever, in terms of day-to-day, real-world, present-day use.

[gullySn0wCat]

By that token, there is no disadvantage. The makers of The Unarchiver have not laden the world with their lame proprietary file formats either.

I did not appreciate having to install Stuffit Expander just to extract a .sitx file sent from a client . Non-standard file formats are so last century.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by gullySn0wCat

By that token, there is no disadvantage. The makers of The Unarchiver have not laden the world with their lame proprietary file formats either.

I did not appreciate having to install Stuffit Expander just to extract a .sitx file sent from a client . Non-standard file formats are so last century.

I've never even run across a .sitx file. I use SI to open .zip and .rar files, for the most part. It does this job quickly and efficiently. Proprietary file formats aren't a concern for me.

[bdodds1985]

so did yo try UnRarX? im a new MBP owner and its what i use. very easy especially compared to winrar on a pc

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by bdodds1985

so did yo try UnRarX? im a new MBP owner and its what i use. very easy especially compared to winrar on a pc

I don't recall if I tried that one or not. To me, there's no noticeable difference between the various apps, which is why I was asking. They all seem to do the job without fuss, so I'm guessing people just go with what they're used to.

[clunkmess]

Originally Posted by Neolithium

I use the unarchiver. Great piece of software.

thanks for tip, just downloaded.

[-BigMac-]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Have you tried any of the others? Are there any advantages to one over the other? I installed StuffIt Expander a long time ago and haven't found any need to revisit that choice, although I have no allegiance to any of them. It simply works. I'm wondering if it doesn't matter and it's just what you're used to, or if there's a distinct advantage to one over the others.

you're overthinking this way too much. It's just a program you need to open .rar files. at the general level, they do the exact same thing.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by -BigMac-

you're overthinking this way too much. It's just a program you need to open .rar files. at the general level, they do the exact same thing.

Thanks for responding to my year-old post, but I wasn't overthinking anything. I had already assumed they all do pretty much the same thing, so I wasn't bothering to test other apps. I was asking if anyone had information to disprove that. They didn't.

[Abazigal]

Unarchiver lets me save partially unzipped files (usually the case for when I am unzipping a video file that has been split in multiple parts - Don't judge me ). This lets me start watching the video without having to first download all the parts.

Unrar doesn't have such a function, IIRC.

[GrandPhrase]

Originally Posted by RedRaven571

Yep! That's the one I use, too.

Let me double up on that one too lol. The Unarchiver is simply neat and amazing.