Having A Problem Extracting Files

[Orbit-50]

I'm having a problem extracting the .rar files for Evolution Stratosphere. I try to stay away from 3rd party extraction utilities because I found apps like WinZipPro to be a little intrusive for my taste. Would be nice if you guys used .zip instead.

[househoppin09]

WinRAR and 7zip are both great options for .RAR files. Both are long-standing industry standards, are free, and contain no malware or anything even close to "dodgy". How the heck have you even been getting by without something that can open .RAR files? They're everywhere.

[Orbit-50]

Got it. I found 7-Zip which worked out well without any problems. I also made sure to go over the installation manual very carefully, which I did not do at first, and it helped a lot. Awesome product!

[Gregjazz]

We use RAR files is primarily due to their ability to split the archive across multiple files to make downloading more manageable. That way if your 8 GB download stalls right before finishing, you don't have to start from the beginning (assuming you aren't using any download managing software that allows you to pause/resume downloads).

RAR files also have far better compression than ZIP files, which was another reason we used RAR files initially. Now that Kontakt has the NCW compressed sample format, RAR vs ZIP compression isn't really a factor any more.

The other thing is that your OS's native implementation of ZIP compression isn't always the greatest, particularly when dealing with ZIP files over 4 GB. As long as you're having to download software to extract the archives, you may as well get WinRAR/7-Zip (Windows) or UnRarX (Mac OS).

I think you'll find that many other developers use the RAR format, too--probably for the same reasons.

That being said, we're in the process of developing our own installer. That way you don't have to use any extraction utilities, and will ultimately simplify the installation (and updating) process.