Windows is finally getting native RAR support + RIP Cortana

polonyc2

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Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it's adding native support for file compression formats 7z and rar...in the newest update to Windows 11, announced today at Microsoft's annual Build conference, there are a whole bunch of new AI features (I sleep) and "added native support for additional archive formats, including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz and many others using the libarchive open-source project"...you now can get improved performance of archive functionality during compression on Windows," the developer blog states

The update will be rolling out to the Insider preview builds of Windows "later this week"...

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsde...developers-with-windows-copilot-and-dev-home/
 
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If only people used Windows 11.
It's at 30% and rising on Steam. Most people have no issues with using it, the majority that are still on 10 are just there because they don't tend to upgrade OS unless they upgrade their computer.

The only people that seem to have issues with it are angry nerds that are just determined to hate on anything new.
 
Go figure. I've been using WinRAR forever. I bought it like 15 years ago and the license still works. With native support for RAR, I dunno if I'll even bother to install it anymore. The built-in Zip functionality works well enough.

I read that they finally plan to support webp natively, too. Clearly there's a team looking to support more file types at long last.
 
It's at 30% and rising on Steam. Most people have no issues with using it, the majority that are still on 10 are just there because they don't tend to upgrade OS unless they upgrade their computer.

The only people that seem to have issues with it are angry nerds that are just determined to hate on anything new.
I guess I am an angry nerd! 🤓

I have decided I will not be moving to Windows 11 when 10 is EOL. I have been testing Ubuntu out on my side rig and it works perfectly fine, especially since i do not play AAA titles.

Also, RAR support is long overdue. poor WinRAR LOL
 
Go figure. I've been using WinRAR forever. I bought it like 15 years ago and the license still works. With native support for RAR, I dunno if I'll even bother to install it anymore. The built-in Zip functionality works well enough.

I read that they finally plan to support webp natively, too. Clearly there's a team looking to support more file types at long last.

I downloaded the trial 15 years ago. Still considering whether to purchase it.
 
If nothing else, they seem to be trying with Windows 11. The sheer amount of new stuff and features they've rolled out since launch has been pretty admirable. Granted, it launched in a rushed state and they kinda had to do something, but I think it's finally in a place where most Windows users would like it.
 
I guess I am an angry nerd! 🤓

I have decided I will not be moving to Windows 11 when 10 is EOL. I have been testing Ubuntu out on my side rig and it works perfectly fine, especially since i do not play AAA titles.

Also, RAR support is long overdue. poor WinRAR LOL
Ubuntu has always been an alternative. It was what people said when windows 10 came out and now I hear the same thing for windows 11. If people wanted to use Ubuntu so badly they just would. It's been ready for primetime for ages now. It's been ready for years, don't wait for EOL windows 10 if it's such a great alternative ;)
 
I guess I am an angry nerd! 🤓

I have decided I will not be moving to Windows 11 when 10 is EOL. I have been testing Ubuntu out on my side rig and it works perfectly fine, especially since i do not play AAA titles.

Also, RAR support is long overdue. poor WinRAR LOL

There is really only one new thing I strongly dislike about Windows 11, and that is that they keep making it harder to install it without using/creating a Microsoft account.

With Windows 10 you could just disconnect the network during install. Now that no longer works. If you don't have network connectivity the Windows 11 installer will not proceed.

You have to have network when you start the install to let it start, but before you get to the "enter your Microsoft credentials screen" you have to use the hotkeys to open the command line and drop the internet connection from there.

And this is on the Professional version. Not even sure you can do it at all anymore on Home.

There are plenty of other things I hate about Win11, but most of those Windows 10 already does and I already hate them there. The rest are minor UI tweaks that can mostly be undone through registry edits and changing settings.

One thing that I haven't found a fix for is the stupid save dialog which defaults to cloud shit now. I have found no way to force it to by default save to the local file system without adding extra clicks. It annoys the bejeebus out of me, but in the grand scheme of things an extra click isn't the end of the world.

I too am hanging on to Windows 10 as long as I can on principle, but not sure I'll last until EOL due to many of the newest CPU drivers not existing in Win10. At some point I will upgrade CPU's and that will probably force the switch.

One thing is for sure. The day they force me to have anything other than a local user account only system, is the day I delete my windows partition for good. I will never accept needibg to be logged into an internet server to use my local machine. That's like the bullshit the games industry tried to pull with always online single player games. Thankfully linux is an option, but I will set my goddamn computer on fire before I ever accept having to use an online account.
 
It's at 30% and rising on Steam. Most people have no issues with using it, the majority that are still on 10 are just there because they don't tend to upgrade OS unless they upgrade their computer.

The only people that seem to have issues with it are angry nerds that are just determined to hate on anything new.
That's pretty much the only reason I'm on Windows 11.
My laptop came 2nd hand with Windows 10 but after a fresh image it said I could update to Windows 11 so I figured why not?

Go figure. I've been using WinRAR forever. I bought it like 15 years ago and the license still works. With native support for RAR, I dunno if I'll even bother to install it anymore. The built-in Zip functionality works well enough.

I read that they finally plan to support webp natively, too. Clearly there's a team looking to support more file types at long last.
I just bought my WinRAR license last year or the year before...SOB should have held out for another couple years.
 
Eh they just want their virus scanner to be able to report the contents of containers with it not seeming odd to users that a OS that can't Rar can find the windows key gens in their .rar files. haha I know I know their virus scanner has always been able to scan rar files. Still... I am not sure I want MSs OS poking around my .rar files anyway. :)
 
And this is on the Professional version. Not even sure you can do it at all anymore on Home.

You can, but I totally agree it's total trash that they make it so challenging.

Funny trick that does still work (I use it all the time for new employees at my office) - input "[email protected]" when it asks you for your MS login. The password doesn't even matter.
It'll tell you something went wrong and it'll go straight into creating a local account. No command prompt, no trickery, nada.

(I actually recommend doing this even if you DO have an MS account because it'll let you name your user folder instead of taking what they give you like BobSmi~1)
 
Eh they just want their virus scanner to be able to report the contents of containers with it not seeming odd to users that a OS that can't Rar can find the windows key gens in their .rar files. haha I know I know their virus scanner has always been able to scan rar files. Still... I am not sure I want MSs OS poking around my .rar files anyway. :)
But it's ok to have defender malware looking everywhere else? ;-)
 
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There is really only one new thing I strongly dislike about Windows 11, and that is that they keep making it harder to install it without using/creating a Microsoft account.

With Windows 10 you could just disconnect the network during install. Now that no longer works. If you don't have network connectivity the Windows 11 installer will not proceed.

You have to have network when you start the install to let it start, but before you get to the "enter your Microsoft credentials screen" you have to use the hotkeys to open the command line and drop the internet connection from there.

And this is on the Professional version. Not even sure you can do it at all anymore on Home.

There are plenty of other things I hate about Win11, but most of those Windows 10 already does and I already hate them there. The rest are minor UI tweaks that can mostly be undone through registry edits and changing settings.

One thing that I haven't found a fix for is the stupid save dialog which defaults to cloud shit now. I have found no way to force it to by default save to the local file system without adding extra clicks. It annoys the bejeebus out of me, but in the grand scheme of things an extra click isn't the end of the world.

I too am hanging on to Windows 10 as long as I can on principle, but not sure I'll last until EOL due to many of the newest CPU drivers not existing in Win10. At some point I will upgrade CPU's and that will probably force the switch.

One thing is for sure. The day they force me to have anything other than a local user account only system, is the day I delete my windows partition for good. I will never accept needibg to be logged into an internet server to use my local machine. That's like the bullshit the games industry tried to pull with always online single player games. Thankfully linux is an option, but I will set my goddamn computer on fire before I ever accept having to use an online account.
Weird... I've never had windows try and save to cloud anything on my new laptop. Just brings up the C drive like it always has.
 
Weird... I've never had windows try and save to cloud anything on my new laptop. Just brings up the C drive like it always has.
If you open say windows notepad and select save as, the folder you see on the main windows is C: not something called Documents or anything of the sorts ?

Would you have oneDrive setup with an online account, those types of folders tend to be those it will have proposed to be synced in the cloud (desktop, documents, etc...)
 
I guess I am an angry nerd! 🤓

I have decided I will not be moving to Windows 11 when 10 is EOL. I have been testing Ubuntu out on my side rig and it works perfectly fine, especially since i do not play AAA titles.

Also, RAR support is long overdue. poor WinRAR LOL
I mean if you want to move to Linux because it works for you, then that's a different story. People should use the platform that works well for them, though I will warn you that Linux has its own bunch of gotchas, if you think you are moving to a problem free experience you are not going to be happy. You are moving from one set of issues to a different set of issues. But if you've looked at it and it works best for you then there's nothing wrong with that.

However if you are refusing to upgrade and staying on 10, or moving to another platform, just because of some hazy notion of "Windows 11 bad" then that makes you an angry nerd since Windows 11 is just Windows 10 with a new coat of paint and a couple of nice features. All of the "OMG it doesn't work it sucks so hard!" posts I've seen have been either unsubstantiated BS, or people doing something extremely dumb (like trying to hack it to run on a 2600k). It's a good OS, we've been rolling it out widely at work for a couple years now, if 10 works for you 11 will work for you.

The only somewhat legit complaint I've seen is the requirement to use a Microsoft account. I am with people that it is silly and annoying, and doesn't benefit the user. However, that said I don't think it matters enough to care for three reasons:

1) You can hack around it, if you really care. If you are enough of a power user that this REALLY matters to you, you can still use a local account.

2) It doesn't hurt the user experience, your system still works fine. While it isn't a benefit to you, and thus they shouldn't force it, it also isn't a detriment. Your system works fine with an MS account.

3) Do you have an Android or iPhone? Are you using a Google or Apple account, as they force you to do? Then stop whining, you've already decided you are ok with that kind of thing.


People are hating on it for its own sake, not because they've actually tried it and found it to be an issue.
 
I can't help but wonder what percentage of RAR use is for piracy :p


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I mean if you want to move to Linux because it works for you, then that's a different story. People should use the platform that works well for them, though I will warn you that Linux has its own bunch of gotchas, if you think you are moving to a problem free experience you are not going to be happy. You are moving from one set of issues to a different set of issues. But if you've looked at it and it works best for you then there's nothing wrong with that.

However if you are refusing to upgrade and staying on 10, or moving to another platform, just because of some hazy notion of "Windows 11 bad" then that makes you an angry nerd since Windows 11 is just Windows 10 with a new coat of paint and a couple of nice features. All of the "OMG it doesn't work it sucks so hard!" posts I've seen have been either unsubstantiated BS, or people doing something extremely dumb (like trying to hack it to run on a 2600k). It's a good OS, we've been rolling it out widely at work for a couple years now, if 10 works for you 11 will work for you.

The only somewhat legit complaint I've seen is the requirement to use a Microsoft account. I am with people that it is silly and annoying, and doesn't benefit the user. However, that said I don't think it matters enough to care for three reasons:

1) You can hack around it, if you really care. If you are enough of a power user that this REALLY matters to you, you can still use a local account.

2) It doesn't hurt the user experience, your system still works fine. While it isn't a benefit to you, and thus they shouldn't force it, it also isn't a detriment. Your system works fine with an MS account.

3) Do you have an Android or iPhone? Are you using a Google or Apple account, as they force you to do? Then stop whining, you've already decided you are ok with that kind of thing.


People are hating on it for its own sake, not because they've actually tried it and found it to be an issue.
I have been running Windows 11 on another PC for quite some time, no thanks.

I am moving to Linux because I have control over the OS, unlike windows (God forbid you want to make a local account!). I just need to test some apps that will be replacing Windows apps.
 
2) It doesn't hurt the user experience, your system still works fine. While it isn't a benefit to you, and thus they shouldn't force it, it also isn't a detriment. Your system works fine with an MS account.
If you take some steps or if you never go over the free 5gb or so of cloud storage otherwise imo it end up often being an issue, the limit on my free Iphone also bring a lot of issues but it is just having to see complain about not being able to sync which feel more fine than on a desktop PC
 
There is really only one new thing I strongly dislike about Windows 11, and that is that they keep making it harder to install it without using/creating a Microsoft account.
I bought a Beelink mini pc with Windows 11 from Amazon this spring. No mention of this in the product page, but it had a sticker on it telling you to turn it on the first time without plugging in the ethernet port so you wouldn't be forced to create a Microsoft account (it didn't exactly say that in so many words, though.) I gather this is becoming a thing among the major mini pc makers.
 
With Windows 10 you could just disconnect the network during install. Now that no longer works. If you don't have network connectivity the Windows 11 installer will not proceed.
As of last month or so you were able to download the latest iso and use Rufus to burn it to a flash drive, and there's an option to skip creating a Microsoft account in Rufus. IIRC there's also a checkbox to set all the telemetry options to minimal.
 
If you open say windows notepad and select save as, the folder you see on the main windows is C: not something called Documents or anything of the sorts ?

Would you have oneDrive setup with an online account, those types of folders tend to be those it will have proposed to be synced in the cloud (desktop, documents, etc...)
It would usually try and save to documents, at least windows 10 used to. I have found that windows 11 tries to save it to whatever the last location I saved something was. For example, the last thing I saved with notepad was my hosts file. So when I just tried Save As for you, it tried to save to that files location.

No cloud stuff, though.
 
Just tried got the same, offered me d: directly. And this is I think on a Microsoft Account not a local one... The fact I had to check to be sure, tell me I either got good at avoiding the issue over time or they stopped to be major.
 
You already click on everything you do, I am not sure if you asked the ai instead of going through the control panel manually if it give them more information or searching via bing on a browser versus via windows bing search, I am sure it does in some way (or make it simpler) but I do not easily see how.
 
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