When the makers of Bandizip launched Bandizip 7.0 with integrated advertisement and commercial versions, it was PeaZip that replaced Bandizip on my systems.

 

Note: I tested the latest version of Bandizip in January 2021 to see if the program changed for the better, but it did not, sadly.

 

The first review of PeaZip dates back to February 2010, and the program has seen numerous new versions and improvements since that initial version.

 

Today's launch of PeaZip 8.0 marks another milestone release after the release of PeaZip 7.0 in 2019. Since it is a brand new release, Windows SmartScreen may throw a security warning when you attempt to run the installer of the program on your devices.

 

Users who don't want to install PeaZip can download and run the portable version as well, which is also offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit version.

 

 

If you have used PeaZip before, you may notice the new style menu and icons in the status bar. The main goal of the developers was to make the look and feel of the program easier to change, e.g. when switching from list mode to viewer mode to preview images.

 

Another useful addition in PeaZip 8.0 is the option to customize the default action when opening supported file types. Besides the option to extract the content of the archive in the archive's folder, actions are supported to open the archive in PeaZip, or to open the full extract menu instead.

 

The option is found under Settings > Archive Manager in the program window. Just select the menu next to "default action on start-up" and pick one of the available choices to make it the new default action for all supported archive types.

 

Development focused on making under the hood changes in PeaZip 8.0. The developers list plenty of improvements in the changelog, from improving handling of the TAR format and how container files are managed in regards to browsing and conversions, to improving the program's search, preview functions, new scripts option and more.

 

Archive file format support increased to a total of 218 different formats, with .xappx format and several Open Packaging Conventions filetypes (.3mf, .vsdx, .mmzx, .aasx, .slx, .scdoc) added to the list of supported file types.

Closing Words

PeaZip is a well-designed application for Windows to create and extract file archives. Version 8.0 improves the application further without making changes that would drive part of the user base away.