The chaps over at TechARP has finally finished putting together an extensive comparative test that stacks up 11 file compression programs including 7-Zip, ARJ32, bzip2, gzip, SB Archiver, Squeez, Stuffit Deluxe, WinAce, WinRAR, WinRK, and WinZip and compares how well they handle eight file sets comprised of WAV files, MP3 files, text documents, e-books, DivX and MPEG video, and both compressed and uncompressed images.

The results have plenty of depth to dig into, but TechARP says the best option for maximum compression is WinRK, however, be prepared to wait for your archive. WinRK is very, very slow. If you do not have patience, WinRK is not the compressor for you. For JPEG compression though, you will want to go with StuffIt Deluxe. Its forte is undoubtedly its amazing JPEG compression. No other compressors can come close to it. Other alternatives you may want to look at for maximum compression would be SBC Archiver and Squeez, which generally are just slightly poorer than WinRK at compression but are much faster. If you prefer to have your files compressed as quickly as possible, you can't go wrong with ARJ32 at its Fast setting. Although only about half as fast as ARJ32 (Fast setting), you can consider alternatives like WinZip, gzip, WinRAR and StuffIt Deluxe. All are very fast at their Fast settings.