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7-Zip ZS (Zstandard Edition) is a free, open-source fork of the popular 7-Zip file archiver. Created and maintained by Tino Reichardt (mcmilk), its primary purpose is to integrate several modern, high-performance compression algorithms directly into the standard 7-Zip interface.

You can review the source code or download the application directly from the mcmilk/7-Zip-zstd GitHub repository. Key Features and Enhancements

Additional Advanced Codecs: While standard 7-Zip focuses heavily on LZMA and LZMA2, 7-Zip ZS introduces native support for multiple specialized compression formats:

Zstandard (zstd): Provides real-time compression with exceptional speeds and highly customizable speed-to-ratio trade-offs.

Brotli: Developed by Google, this algorithm offers a compression ratio comparable to the best general-purpose methods but is designed to be much denser than standard deflate.

LZ4 / LZ5 / Lizard: Engineered for extreme speed, delivering compression and decompression speeds at hundreds of megabytes or gigabytes per second per CPU core.

Fast LZMA2: A multi-threaded, faster variation of the standard LZMA2 algorithm.

Enhanced Hash Calculator: The default 7-Zip checks CRC-32 and SHA-256. 7-Zip ZS builds upon this by adding ultra-fast modern hashing algorithms, including XXH-32, XXH-64, and BLAKE2sp.

Seamless Windows Integration: The program retains the exact user interface and Explorer context menus of the original 7-Zip, meaning there is no new learning curve for users. Why Choose 7-Zip ZS Over Standard 7-Zip?

Speed: If you handle multi-gigabyte files daily, switching the compression method to zstd or LZ4 can compress and extract files up to 5x to 10x faster than traditional ZIP or 7z formats, while utilizing multi-core processors more efficiently.

Compatibility with Linux / DevOps Ecosystems: zstd is heavily utilized in server environments, database backups, and Linux distributions. Standard 7-Zip cannot natively open .zst files, forcing Windows users to rely on command-line utilities. 7-Zip ZS allows you to double-click and extract .zst archives effortlessly. How to Install It

You can install the client using the Windows Package Manager by opening your terminal and executing the Winget Command: winget install -e –id mcmilk.7zip-zstd Use code with caution.

Alternatively, you can navigate to the GitHub Releases Page to download the standard .exe installer or grab standalone .dll codec files to patch an existing, standard 7-Zip installation.

If you are considering migrating to this archiver, let me know:

What types of data (database backups, media files, code) do you compress most often?

Is your primary goal to save maximum disk space or to compress files as fast as possible?

I can recommend the absolute best codec and level settings for your specific workload.

mcmilk/7-Zip-zstd: 7-Zip with support for Brotli, Fast … – GitHub