Standard .ZIP files are universally recognized, but the compression rate is low. So you may find that there’s not much difference in file size before and after you’ve converted a bunch of files into a single zip file. If you need to compress files further (like when sending in an email), use the free program 7-zip (www.7-zip.com). 7-zip supports all the popular compressed formats like .ZIP, .RAR and .TAR. Not only does it compress .ZIP files better than WinZip, but if you use the .7z format to compress, the total file size can reduce drastically. Of course, the files can be opened at the other end with 7-zip only.
