win.rar GmbH and rarlab.com are proud to announce the release of the WinRAR 3.50 final version. "Version 3.50 is yet another step ahead for the most complete archiving software on the market", states O. Kaya, Managing Director of win.rar GmbH.

WinRAR, the popular compression utility, has now been on the market for well over ten years. With the release of version 3.50, rarlab.com has decided to give WinRAR a facelift. By installing interface themes, users can now give WinRAR a completely new look. Theme files are available on http://www.rarlab.com/themes.htm. Since theme files are RAR archives users can open them directly in WinRAR to install. Installed themes can be managed by using the "Options/Themes" menu within WinRAR.

But of course WinRAR has not only changed optically. Many new features have been added as well. The new WinRAR 3.50 is one of the first compression tools to offer Windows x64 shell integration. This is a great feature for Windows x64 users who have been waiting for context menu support on their Windows x64. With WinRAR 3.50 they can now take full advantage of the right-click extensions that make work so much more efficient.

Other big advantages for web editors, but also for private users, are the newly added options for customizing SFX archives. One option is to replace the default SFX logo by a custom bitmap file. It is now possible to specify user defined SFX icons larger than 32x32 and with any color depth.

With the release of WinRAR 3.50, rarlab.com has also succeeded in making a very secure program even more secure. In addition to existing security features WinRAR now offers even better protection for data. For example, it is not allowed to run *.pif files. Archived PIF files is one typical way for computer viruses to distribute. WinRAR shell does not allow running files having 5 or more continuous spaces in the name. Viruses frequently add spaces into names to confuse users and hide the real extension. WinRAR shell removes these continuous spaces.

Furthermore, WinRAR now supports decompression of ZIP archives created using Zip64 format extension.

These are just some of the more than 20 features that were added or improved. More information on all the improved items can be found at http://www.win-rar.com/whatsnew.html.

Of course, as always, the upgrade to 3.50 is absolutely free for all registered users. Upgrading is quick and easy. Users only need to download and install the newest version of WinRAR to continue using the popular compression tool. No complicated uninstalling of the previous version is necessary.

About WinRAR:

WinRAR is a 32-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, the powerful archiver and archive manager. WinRAR's main features are very strong general and multimedia compression, solid compression, archive protection from damage, processing of ZIP and other non-RAR archives, scanning archives for viruses, programmable self-extracting archives(SFX), authenticity verification, NTFS and Unicode support, strong AES encryption, support of multivolume archives, command line and graphical interface, drag-and-drop facility, wizard interface, theme support and Windows x64 shell integration. WinRAR is available in 40 different languages and runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003. The command line version RAR is available for Linux, DOS, OS/2, FreeBSD and MAC OS X. Pocket RAR, the free WinRAR version for Pocket PCs, completes the compression product range.

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For all journalists, we have reserved a free copy of WinRAR for your personal use in our pressroom at www.win-rar.com/press. Here you also can find official short descriptions, PAD files,screen shots, news etc.

This online Pressroom was especially designed with the needs of journalists in mind. Including restricted advanced information, access to program previews, and special giveaway offers for the readers of your magazine. In addition to all of this we have reserved a free copy of WinRAR for your personal use. Come and visit us at www.win-rar.com/press today and experience first hand
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