The .zip file format seems pretty universal...the preferred Mac format 
is StuffIt (.sit), but StuffIt Expander can open .zip files, and there 
are other shareware/freeware programs to decompress them. Linux and Unix 
systems also have software to open them.

However, they serve different needs...compressed meshes are just a file 
format that takes up less space while storing the same data, .zip files 
are archived files packed into a single file, usually for storage, 
backup, or transfer to another system, not for general use. Your 
question is similar to asking why there is a PNG or compressed TGA 
format when you can simply .zip up a PPM or plain TGA.

-- 
Christopher James Huff
Personal: chr### [at] maccom, http://homepage.mac.com/chrishuff/
TAG: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg, http://tag.povray.org/

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