Information on Zip Files
Each zip story file is an archive that contains a text file in a compressed format. I compress (zip) a large story (over 100,000 characters) into a file about a third the size of the original text file. The purpose of this is to make it convenient to download a large file. A zipped file takes about a third the time to download as a regular text file and also requires one-third the space to store. The disadvantage of a zipped file is you must unzip it to read it.
PC Owners. To unzip files, you may use one of two different software products:
Netzip is a commercial software product that has a free evaluation copy you can get information on and download from the Netzip Home Page.
Winzip is a shareware product that requests a registration fee from you. You can get information on Winzip and download it from the Winzip Home Page.
When you click on the link to a zipped file, the software will let you extract a text file from the zip archive. You may then print it out or read the text file using a text editor.
Macintosh Owners. To unzip files, use Stuffit. Download StuffIt Expander 4.5. StuffIt can decompress just about any file found on the Internet... if you use DropStuff. Download Dropstuff with Expander Enhanser 4.5. DropStuff with Expander Enhancer lets you compress and exchange files for both Windows and Mac users, including the PC Zip format. These programs are free to download, but a small fee is requested for DropStuff , which is shareware.