It’s probably no surprise that one of the most recommended file archivers for use with the RAR file format is WinRAR, the official tool developed by Eugene Roshal and distributed by Alexander Roshal. Together, these tools work across all major operating systems and platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android, and even Chrome OS. The open nature of RAR’s decompression algorithm means that RAR files can be easily extracted by several free and paid tools alike. Developers who would like to create RAR files need written permission from Alexander Roshal, the elder brother of Eugene Roshal. Even though decompression source code is available, RAR isn’t free software because it places restrictions on the use of the compression algorithm. The only major limitation of the software is its license. RAR could be seen as the more advanced archive file format, as it supports Unicode encoding, AES-128 encryption, tighter compression, and recovery records, among other useful features. The RAR file format is often compared to ZIP, a similar archive file format, which is supported natively by most modern operating systems. Such archives always start with a regular. rXX file extensions is used for multipart archives. REV is used for recovery volume sets, which help to repair a damaged RAR archive in case of physical data damage. rar file extension, but that’s not the only file extension used by RAR.
