What is a zip file?
Zip files are "archives" files that contain one or more files. Usually the files "archived" in a Zip are compressed to save space. Zip files save time and space, and make downloading software and transferring e-mail attachments faster.
What do I need to uncompress a zip file?
Windows users - Winzip is the most common Windows program for working with zip files. An evaluation version can be downloaded from http://www.winzip.com/download.htm. You can also find several freeware zip management programs at http://www.noguska.net/nonags/zip32.html
Macintosh users - StuffIt Expander is one of the most popular file compression utilities for Mac Users. You can get the free version of this software from http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html
Linux users - A variety of console applications for managing compression programs for linux can be found at http://agentware.linux.tucows.com/conhtml/fil_compression.html