Websites to Download Creative Commons Music For Free

If you’ve wondered where many of those YouTube videos get their background music from, you’ve come to the right place. Music with Creative Commons licenses are music compositions written, produced and shared by people who do not charge anything when you use their music for your own use, commercially or non-commercially.

Basically, they make the music and keep ownership and copyright of it and you get the permission to use it for your videos, film or small multimedia productions, as long as you credit the creator properly.

There are many sites out there that house music with Creative Commons licenses, sites where you can download music for free (and legally). These sites make it very easy for you to use, all you have to do is pick an audio clip you like and save it as an MP3, and there you have it, your free music download.

Jamendo

Jamendo has more than 350,000 audio files on their database, which includes music in a few different languages and from different countries. Its advanced search will help you narrow down what you’re looking for on their large database.

There is also a ‘Radio’ option where you can listen to music like on a radio channel based on genre. By registering and logging in, you can save personal favourites to your account.

Freesound

Freesound is a collaborative database for Creative Commons Licensed sounds. This database here is filled with sound effect such as ambient noises, synthesized sounds and sounds produced by musical instruments.

Browse, download and share sounds on Freesound; you can also upload your own audio clips to their database after registering for an account on the website.

ccMixter

Music on this site can be downloaded and shared with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Clips here focus on instrumental samples that are mainly used for remixes on DJ music. There is a wide variety of samples to choose from, which can be sorted by tags that describe the audio clips.

Kompoz

Kompoz is an online community that prides in collaboration between artists from all over the world. Artists post their clips on the website where anyone can download it and use it for their own productions. They can also add their own instruments or creative mix to the original clip and upload it on the website again.

As more people collaborate on the original clip and the clips after that, it will eventually become a creative collaboration of multiple musicians.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a very popular website where famous artists share their new tracks to the world. There is a section under Creative Commons license where you can download other people’s tracks. You can stream the available clips and it takes just a simple click to get the MP3 file without any registration.

Note that some tracks however require you to ‘Like’ their Facebook page before you can download their clips.

BeatPick

On BeatPick, you have a music player kind of interface where you can listen to any song on a list. To download any song from the website, you’ll have to register for an acoount. Most of the clips are instrumental, with very little vocal input.

The clips also come with descriptions of what it sounds like, which can be useful to match to whatever the theme your clip is.

Restorm

This is a website mostly used by indie artists who want a platform to sell their music to the public and have their works licensed under their name. You too can do the same, or download some of their free selection of music just by creating an account.

The full songs available on the website can be streamed to help you decide if you want to download it. Some of the artists also have songs in their native language not just English.

Musopen

Musopen is a website where you can find free music from individual instruments in an orchestra: violins, cellos, violas, etc as well as a combination of instruments. It caters to the genre of quieter music like classical music or jazz.. Best of all, you can also download sheet music.

You can also browse music by sorting it by composer, instrument and even the period of time the music clip resembles.

Vimeo

You might recognize Vimeo as a place only for videos, but it also offers free music which you can use as long as you give credit to the original artist. After clicking download, your download will start and a pop-up window will appear with the details of the clip’s title, artist and website.

For example, when using a music for a YouTube video, you would use those details and place it at the credits of your video or video description.

ArtistServer

ArtistServer has over 11,000 MP3 downloads by more than 10,000 artists and you can be one of those artists too when you sign up with them. They have clips of many genres for you to choose from which you can download for free.

It is also possible to preview the entire clip before making your selection and downloading it.

Audiofarm

Audiofarm has a wide selection of genres to choose from, uploaded by ordinary people who want to share their music. You can easily download any song you like by clicking the download link – no registration needed.

The full song can even be played while browsing for one that fits your needs. By registering, you can upload music for other people to download.

iBeat

If you’re a DJ or anyone else looking for some free beats and loops, iBeat has a wide database of clips which are free under Creative Commons licensing. The beats available come in a variety of genres such as rock beats, hip hop beats and even acoustic or electronic beats. No registration required.

CCTrax

CCTrax is a directory of free music. It has a database of Creative Commons license music for music lovers. Plenty of awesome sound track albums are available for free download here, like Alexander Saykov, Baumfreun, Stiver and more.

JewelBeat

On JewelBeat, you search through free background music and sound effects with keywords. These free background music clips can be used for whatever video production you are making. The audio clips here are mostly instrumental and consist of short loops. Besides the free selection, there is also a $0.99 selection that you can choose from.

Audionautix

Clips found on Audionautix are released under Creative Commons license 3.0 – you can use the audio clips available even for commercial purposes so long as you credit the Audionautix website. Clips are named to what the artist feels it should resemble; you can preview the clip by clicking it and if you like it, right click the clip and select ‘save target/link as’ to save it to your desktop.

FMA

FMA stands for Free Music Archive which has a wide selectionof high-quality, legal audio downloads. It works like a music station where you browse for clips and if you like the clip, you can add it to your music player. You also can opt to download the full clip. You can use the music player and download the clips without registering for an account.

Purple Planet

Purple planet is the creation of two people, Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey, who let you use their music for free. You can use any of their audio clips on online videos so long as you link to their website at the description of the video. Their style of music falls under effects that accompany a horror, dramatic or mysterious scene.

Incompetech

Incompetech hosts a wide variety of royalty free music. You can browse their selection by genre or feel. "Feel" would include things like: Action, Relaxed, Intense or Humorous; you can select a combination of ‘Feels’ and it will check its database for selection matches. Clips can be played on the website and instantly downloaded as well.

Bump Foot

Bump Foot originates from Japan and focuses mostly on techno, trance beats and electronic dance music. You can download the files and use it for your own non-commercial work as long as you give attribution to them or the featured artist.

There is no way to stream music as there are only download links avalable on the site. You don’t need to register for an account to start downloading.

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1. CASH Music – CASH Music is a non-profit organization that hosts digital tools for musicians and labels to share their music. The digital tool allows for uploads and downloads of songs and sharing is made easy.
2. Josh Woodward – This work of a single person, this site features more than 180 songs that are free for download, sharing and use. Do give this generous man attribution if you use his clips in your productions.
3. PacDV – This is a small database of free audio clips organised by mood or emotion such as: Warm, Loving, Serious or Lonely.
4. SampleSwap – SampleSwap is also a forum for other musicians. When a clip is uploaded, the floor is upon for discussion about the clip, as well as a free download.
5. DanoSongs – This is also a one-man wonder site. You get to use his wide variety of self-made clips, arranged by genre such as soundtrack, pop/rock band and even techno/electric.
6. Public Domain 4U – This website has a wide selection of genres of free music you can download. The genre leads to another website which houses the album and description of the album. You can download your tracks there without registration.
7. Orphan Songs – This website is created by Carl-Otto Johansson who is a musician who writes and records his own music. He uploads his two albums and a few tracks licensed under Creative Commons for public use.
8. Sonnyboo – To use songs from this website, you have to credit the owner and writer of the songs, Peter John Ross. The song selection he has ranges from Jazz to

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Best Free Photo Editing Software Programs

Adobe Photoshop, no doubt is the most powerful and advanced photo editingsoftware application but, not everyone is familiar with it and there are always alternatives so, here we have listed the best free photo editing software programs that fulfil the need of photo processing, but they can not be compared with Adobe Photoshop, though they are good for most of the photo editing tasks that Photoshop can do.

Here are some feature rich free photo editing software programs that are capable of making your photos look better and retouch them with cool effects.

GIMP (www.gimp.org)

GIMP is a powerful GNU based image manipulation program. It is capable of retouching photos with expert quality tools. Gimp interface is modulized into a so called docks, and allow you to stack them into tabs and keep each tool open in their own window like Adobe Photoshop. Some of the handy features Gimp packed with are fix perspective distortion, lens barrel distortion and vignetting, channel mixer, new healing tool with perspective clone tool. Gimp also support various input devices and large number of file formats and you can extend it using GIMP’s plug-ins.Gimp is available to all operating system – Windows, Mac, Linux and few other open source OS.

Paint.NET

No doubt paint.net is a award winning free image and photos editing software for Windows operating system. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects and other various powerful tools. At the online forum you can get the support and plug-ins which helps extend the features on paint.net.

Photoscape (www.photoscape.org)

Photoscape lets you enhance photos in a fun and easy way. Photoscape has some nice features with various editing options, combine multiple images, animated GIF, print photos, splitter, color picker, rename photos in batch mode, raw converter, face search to find similar faces on internetand much more. Photoscape is available only to Microsoft Windows.

PhotoPad Photo Editor (www.nchsoftware.com/photoeditor/index.html)

PhotoPad is a simple, clean and easy to use photo editor. It is bundled with some great features like photo effects such as sepia tones, grascalle, vibnette, local blur and more, filter effects, removing red-eye and blemished, create collages and photos mosaics, direct upload to Facebook or Flickr, create video slideshowsand other great features. PhotoPad is available for Windows and Mac platforms.

PhotoPlus (www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software)

Using PhotoPlus is a simple and effective way to enhance images. It contains the tools to straighten and crop photos, repair old photos, red eye removal, smooth skin, remove unwanted objects from pictures, adjust levels curves, brightness, contrast, paint, blendand more.PhotoPlus is available for Windows operating system only.

GIMPSHOP (www.gimpshop.com)

GIMPSHOP is a great alternative to Photoshop. You can feel the Photoshop performance and features by using GIMPSHOP and it is completely free open source GNU image manipulation program. For sure you’ll be addicted to this after first use. It is packed with all the powerful tools that you can expect from an image editing software. GIMPSHOP is available for Windows and Mac operating systems.

INKSCAPE (inkscape.org)

Inkscape is a powerful open source vector graphics editor similar to Illustrator and CorelDraw. If you are missing vector support of Photoshop then for sure Inkscape is the best vector graphics software. Inkscape is available for all platforms.

 Seashore (seashore.sourceforge.net/The_Seashore_Project/Download.html)

Seashore is a basic image editor for Mac OS X only. It’s open source image editor with some basic features of gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. However, it is not feature rich photo editor like GIMP but, fulfil the need of basic image editing.

PhotoFiltre (photofiltre.free.fr/frames_en.htm)

PhotoFiltre make it easy to edit and apply effects and filters to your photos. It is a simple, easy-to-use free photo editing software program.

Photo Pos Pro (www.photopos.com/Photo-Pos-Pro-Free-Photo-Editor.asp)

Photo Pos pro offers you most of the photo editing tools to enhance and manipulate your digital photos the way you want. You can apply various effects using different selection tools in a full screen user interface. It supports graphics tools, special effects, different selection tools, layers support, script tools, batch operations and lots more.

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MESSAGE OF SHRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI

All people of the world are equal

The Guru Granth Sahib promotes the message of equality of all beings and at the same time state that Sikh believers "obtain the supreme status" (SSGS, Page 446). Discrimination of all types is strictly forbidden based on the Sikh tenet Fatherhood of God which states that no one should be reckoned low or high, stating that instead believers should –“reckon the entire mankind as One” (Akal Ustat, 15.85).
Sri Guru Granth Sahib promotes the concept of equality by highlighting the fact that we are made of the same flesh, blood and bone and we have the same light of God with us – Soul . Our building bricks are the same:

The God-conscious being is always unstained, like the sun, which gives its comfort and warmth to all. The God-conscious being looks upon all alike, like the wind, which blows equally upon the king and the poor beggar.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 272 Full Shabad

The Gurus also encourage believers to promote social equality by sharing earnings with those in need.

Women's Status

Main article: Women in Sikhism

Guru Nank Dev Ji said "Sikhi does not teach you to raise your hand on a women it teaches you to respect them"
Sikhism also preaches that equal respect should be given to women.

In the earth and in the sky, I do not see any second. Among all the women and the men, His Light is shining.^[1]

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 223 Full Shabad

Metaphysic

Sikhism is strictly monotheistic in its belief. This means that God is believed to be the one and sole Reality in the cosmos, meaning that no other being have extra-human power. Sikh Gurus state that God alone is worthy of worship, and the highest end of existence, that is mukti or liberation can come through Devotion to God alone.
Besides its monotheism, Sikhism also emphasizes another philosophical idea, which is known as monism, a philosophical position which argues that the variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance. Furthermore one of the tenet of the religion is the belief that the world is only a "vision" or illusion (Maya) and that God is the sole "Continuing Reality" so that selfishness, egoism and hate are meaningless.

God is merciful and infinite. The One and Only is all-pervading.
He Himself is all-in-all. Who else can we speak of? God Himself grants His gifts, and He Himself receives them.
Coming and going are all by the Hukam of Your Will; Your place is steady and unchanging. (20,1)

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 710 Full Shabad

Speak and live truthfully

Sikhs believe in the importance of truthful living, which can only be created by purity of mind and not through religious purification rites. They believe that impurity of mind leads to many other vices such as anger, lust, attachment, ego, and greed.

So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?
O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.

Control the five vices

Devotees of Guru Sahib believe they must control the animal instincts of Pride/Ego, Anger/Temper, Greed/Urges, Attachment/Dependency and Lust/Addiction.

All virtues are obtained, all fruits and rewards, and the desires of the mind; my hopes have been totally fulfilled.
The Medicine, the Mantra, the Magic Charm, will cure all illnesses and totally take away all pain.
Lust, anger, egotism, jealousy and desire are eliminated by chanting the Name of the Lord.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 1388 Full Shabad

Live in God's hukam

A Sikh believes they should live and accept the command of God easily and without too much emotional distress. They attempt to live in contentment and in Chardikala (positive attitude).

Shalok:
He wanders around in the four quarters and in the ten directions, according to the dictates of his karma.
Pleasure and pain, liberation and reincarnation, O Nanak, come according to one's pre-ordained destiny.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 253 Full Shabad

Virtues

The Sikh religion emphasizes several other virtues: Truth (Sat), contentment (santokh), Love (Ishq), Compassion/Mercy (daya), Service (seva), Charity (dana), forgiveness (ksama), humility (nimrata), patience (dheerjh), non-attachment (vairagya) and renunciation (taiga).
These believers attempt to avoid anger (krodh), egoism (ahankara), avarice (lobh), lust (kama), infatuation (moha), sinful acts (papa), pride (man), doubt (duvidha), ownership (mamata), hatred (vair), and hostility (virodh). In the Sikh religion, freedom from these vices, or Sahaj, is attained through tension-free, ethical living, grounded in spirituality avoiding self-mortification and other religious rites of cleansing.

First, is the Lord's Praise; second, contentment; third, humility, and fourth, giving to charities. Fifth is to hold one's desires in restraint. These are the five most sublime daily prayers.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 1084 Full Shabad

Humility is the word, forgiveness is the virtue, and sweet speech is the magic mantra. Wear these three robes, O sister, and you will captivate your Husband Lord. ((127))

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib page 1384 Full Shabad

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Top Best Windows Secure File Deletion Software

Are you looking for free and effective secure file deletion software to delete your files permanently? We have tried and tested several deletion software and based on our experience and reviews, here are the Top 5 Windows Secure file deletion software that you can use to delete your files permanently.

1. CCleaner

This is one of best file shredders available that thoroughly cleans several places where possible data are still stored. It erases data where you would normally find it difficult to locate and erase on your own. It also erases traces of your online activities and contains a featured-packed registry cleaner that runs really fast and doesn’t contain spyware or adware.

• Our Rating: 
• Download CCleaner
• Home Page
• Pros: portable; erases data that are difficult to locate and delete; runs fast
• Cons: It installs yahoo toolbar by default and there are numerous hoops to go through to access its erasing features.
• OS: All flavors of Windows from Windows 98 to Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit

2. Eraser

Eraser is one of the popular free and secure file deletion soft wares for windows. It is designed to delete files permanently from your disk and allows you to totally eradicate all the sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it multiple times. This software will also prevent any attempt of retrieval with the use of disk maintenance and undelete utility. Eraser also comes with a flexible and customizable scheduler to ensure that your system memory is overwritten from time to time to avoid data thefts.

• Our Rating: 
• Download Eraser
• Home Page
• Pros: Excellent scheduling feature; provides detailed reporting on unerased files/cluster tips; It also works with any drive and has a good technical support forum if you need help; fast and secure
• Cons: the new interface of eraser (version 6) is no longer portable and has some of the features in version 5 removed such as context sensitive option “Eraser Secure Move”
• OS: Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008

3. Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN)

Darik’s Boot and Nuke is a boot disk that that securely deletes any contents of any hard disk. It is ideal for bulk or emergency data destruction as it can automatically wipe away the contents of any detected hard disk without a trace. This is the ultimate shredder.

• Our Rating: 
• Download DBAN
• Home Page
• Pros: ideal for bulk or emergency destruction and preventing identity theft especially when recycling computers;
• Cons : Not ideal for beginners as it is a sensitive and powerful file shredder that once used, there is no way to restore date.
• OS: All flavors of Windows including Windows 7, Mac, and Linux

4. File Shredder

This is also a reliable source of secure file deletion that will completely erase files from your hard drive. It has a user-friendly interface that even the most novice will understand. It has the functionality to let you browse and choose which files you want deleted. You can also choose 5 options for shredding algorithms and it performs its tasks very quickly.

• Our Rating: 
• Download File Shredder
• Home Page
• Pros: user-friendly and simple interface with low-level security risks; ensures sufficient shredding of files with secure DOD.
• Cons: there are some files that could not be removed; does not have a lot of good features
• OS: Windows 7/2000/2003/2008/9x/Home Server/Vista/XP (both 32 and 64 bit)

5. Prevent Restore

Prevent restore comes with a wizard that will make installation a breeze. It also ensures permanent deletion of files that can no longer be restored unless the space marked by windows is not overwritten.

• Our Rating: 
• Download Prevent Restore
• Home Page
• Pros: Allows for permanent deletion by overwriting all the free space available in the hard disk, hence making files irretrievable.
• Cons: It is quite complicated for novices as there is no help feature included in the program and no help forums can be found in the main site. It also takes a while to run and complete the tasks.
• OS: All flavors of Windows including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista

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Best Free File Compression Software for Windows

A file compression software would allow you to compress one or more files into a smaller file to save space and to shorten the time to upload and download the files. Compression tools are very useful and very handy with its modern graphical interfaces and drag and drop capabilities. Winzip is one of the most popular compression software. However, it is not free. Hence, we created a list of free Top 5 compression utilities that you can use if paying is not an option for you.

1. 7-Zip

7-Zip is probably the leading free file compression software for Windows with its amazing ability to shrink files on the fly. It has advanced functionalities that include the capacity to produce solid and self-extracting archives as well as to modify password protection and compression level. Albeit it has a minimalistic interface, it is easy to understand and operate. 7-Zip supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM, and DEB. For a free software, the performance is close to perfection.

• Our Rating: 
• Download 7-Zip
• Home Page
• Pros: easy to install; excellent performance; provides error messages; functionality to uncompress from several embedded files; great archive utility
• Cons: minimalistic interface
• OS: Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, 98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Server 2008/NT (Supports 32-bit and 64-bit)

2. IZArc

IZArc is one of the best file compression software out there which is compatible with a huge number of archive formats such as ISO, 7-zip, black hole, TAR and many others. It can also convert and save to 12 different formats and has a similar interface with WinZip.

• Our Rating: 
• Download IZArc
• Home Page
• Pros: great interface; flexible functionality and handles a wide array of file compression formats
• Cons: the installer is bundled with “open candy”; a bit slow when opening huge files
• OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, Windows 7

3. PeaZip

PeaZip is packed with features that are great for the experts while also giving a user friendly interface to novice users with its drag and drop functions. It has a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) platform that is so easy to navigate. Peazip currently provides three types of installer including a portable one.

• Our Rating: 
• Download PeaZip
• Home Page
• Pros: user-friendly even to novice users while experts can also enjoy its advanced features; supports many file types;
• Cons: one type of installer is bundled with open candy, although a plain installer is also available.
• OS: Windows 7, Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/NT

4. ZipGenius

ZipGenius is another great compression software that provides a lot of functionalities such as being able to add your signature and contact information to any zip file you create. It also offers encryption,  antivirus scanner support, download time calculator, disk spanning and a lot more. It also offers a multi functioning plug-in support and is available in several languages.

• Our Rating: 
• Download ZipGenius
• Home Page
• Pros: multiple options to compress or decompress; fast archiving speed; user frindly and intuitive
• Cons: extract screen is too large; no quick and easy help file in the program;
• OS: Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 98/Me/2000/2003/Vista/Server 2008/NT

5. Hamster Free Zip Archiver

Hamster compression software has a colorful interface with vividly labeled buttons that will make navigating a breeze. It has a clear guide on how to add files by dragging, dropping or browsing. It has a great functionality to right-click a file and choosing the zip options directly from the context menu.

• Our Rating: 
• Download Hamster Free Zip Archiver
• Home Page
• Pros: attractive interface; simple to operate; unpacking files is quick;
• Cons: cannot zoom in/out number; small range of colors
• OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

Click to viewWhether you've been sent a simple ZIP archive, you need to create and share your own compressed files, or you're staring down the barrel of some obscure archive format you've never seen before, having the right file compression application in your corner is a must. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite file compression tool, and over 500 comments later, we're back with the five most popular answers. Read on for a closer look at the five best file compression tools, then get ready to punch the chad for the app you like best. 

7-Zip (Windows/Linux, Free)

7-Zip is a free, open-source file archive utility with a spare interface but powerful feature set. With support for most popular compression formats (and quite a few not-so-popular), this lightweight, open source option does the job quickly and without fuss. While some 7-Zip users complain about its spare interface, others are happy with 7-Zip's no-nonsense approach and fast operation.

IZArc (Windows, Freeware)

IZArc is the compression tool that may take home the prize for most-supported read and write formats for this Hive Five. IZArc is also the only featured archiver apart from PeaZip that distributes a portable version on their web site (though third parties have made other apps portable—like 7-Zip Portable). Users go for IZArc for its attractive interface and its low pricetag. IZArc is freeware, but donations are accepted.

WinRAR (Windows, Shareware)

WinRAR is a powerful file compression and decompression tool that's been around since 1993. As the first result in a Google search for RAR, it's probably the first option most of us stumbled onto when we ran into our first RAR file. That said, WinRAR supports a wide range of formats. It's also one of the few archivers capable of writing RAR archives—though overall it's limited to creating only RARs or ZIPs. WinRAR costs a pretty steep $29 for a license, but several users are happy to suffer through the nag screens to avoid the cost.

PeaZip (Windows and Linux, Free)

PeaZip is a free and open-source archive manager that supports a boatload of formats. Unlike its open-source sister, 7-Zip, PeaZip also has a very attractive interface, from the main application interface down to the desktop icons it uses when you set it as your default compression tool. Like IZArc, it's also available in a portable version—so even if you don't go with it for your default, it's worth tossing on your thumb drive just in case you need a little compression on the road.

The Unarchiver (Mac OS X, Freeware)

The Unarchiver is the built-in default file compression utility for Mac OS X. Unlike Windows, which only supports the ZIP format out-of-the-box, The Unarchiver handles most major formats. The catch: The Unarchiver is a read-only application, so if you're on a Mac and you want to write to more obscure archive types than ZIP, you may need to add an extra tool to your arsenal. Most OS X users, however, are happy to stick with The Unarchiver for all their decompression needs.

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Now that you've seen the best, it's voting time. This week's honorable mentions go out to jZip and ALZip. Whether or not your app of choice made the short list, let's hear more about it in the comments.

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