It’s been a long time coming, but Windows 11 can now unpack some of the most popular compression files on the web. Initially announced back in May, the new “Moment 4” update adds a bunch of Copilot AI features and more. But who cares about that, because it also lets Windows natively access 7-Zip, RAR, GZ, and many other popular compression and archiving file formats.

It’s odd that it took this long for Windows to add this functionality, since native support for ZIP files was added waaaaaaay back in Windows ME. This means that millions of users will no longer need third-party tools like the infamous, reset-your-installation-every-30-days WinRAR or 7-Zip. The other file type additions, as noted by Bleeping Computer, are .tar, .tar.bz2, .tar.zst. .tar.xz. .tgz, .tzst. and .txz.

The optional add-on should be available in Windows 11’s Windows Update menu starting today, if you have the “Get the latest updates as soon as they are available” option checked, though it may take a few days for the KB5031455 update file to propagate around the world. The “Moment 4” update is expected to start being automatically pushed to all Windows 11 users on November 14.

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Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer

Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.

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