Microsoft has just announced that Windows 11 will natively support RAR and other archive formats that Windows users have been waiting for decades.
Microsoft is throwing the house up for sale and following the recent announcement of today’s Windows 11 Moment 3 update and the new AI-powered Windows Copilot comes another big thing that is driving people crazy on Twitter: file open RAR natively on Windows 11.
“We have added native support for additional archive formats, including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz, and many others using the open source libarchive project.”says product manager for Windows and Devices Panos Panay in a blog post. “You can now get improved performance of file functionality during compression on Windows.”
As reported The Vergeit has also been touted as having “improved functionality” regarding compression compared to third-party applications.
In a nutshell this eliminates the need for install third-party applications to access these files. Qualify that although there will be this possibility of opening RAR files natively in Windows 11 —specifying with this type—, they comment that there does not seem to be a way for Windows to compress files using RAR by itself, so WinRar will continue to be necessary in those cases.
RAR files natively in Windows 11
Microsoft built support for ZIP files into Windows in 1998. However, to manipulate 7-Zip (.7z), RAR (.rar), or gz (.gz) files, you need to install third-party applications. For example, 7-Zip is free and open source, and the WinRar app offers a 40-day trial that never ends, already becoming something of a joke in the tech world.
Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that support for this and the other file formats discussed it will roll out to Windows 11 users in the coming days in a “work in progress” update.
“It’s an exciting time to be a developer, especially on Windows, and we’re thrilled to be on this journey with you. From the moment you open your device, you’ll have the best productivity tools at your fingertips, allowing you to do his best work”explains Panos Panay.