PKZIP was an instant success. Because Katz made the decompression software free and the compression format faster than any competitor, it quickly became the global standard for the Windows operating system and early internet file sharing. 3. The Tragic End of Phil Katz

: Following the death of his father, Katz withdrew from society and his own company. He became a chronic alcoholic and lived in extreme isolation.

While his software was on almost every computer in the world, Phil Katz's personal life was in a downward spiral.

: Phil Katz , a talented programmer, felt ARC was too slow. He wrote his own version, PKARC , which was significantly faster because it was written in assembly language.

: SEA sued Katz’s company, PKWARE , for trademark and copyright infringement, claiming he had copied their source code.