File Managers like Microsoft Explorer ?

For sure: Total Commander.

Short message. That tool is simply great. Much better than Microsoft Explorer (Exploder).
It can do most of the simple tasks you need (from compressing, to FTP, encoding/decoding MIME and UUE, and support plugins).

Very stable, and light weight. Nothing else you need.

A MUST HAVE. It is a shareware. But you can live with it for years. Although I recommend supporting the guys there, they deserve it.

Get it here: Total Commander