| New Executable | |
|---|---|
| Filename extension | |
| Type of format | Executable,dynamic-link library |
| Extended from | DOS MZ executable |
| Extended to | Portable Executable |
TheNew Executable (NE orNewEXE) is a16-bitexecutablefile format, a successor to theDOS MZ executable format. It was used inWindows 1.0–3.x,Windows 9x,multitasking MS-DOS 4.0,[1]OS/2 1.x, and the OS/2 subset ofWindows NT up to version 5.0 (Windows 2000). An NE is also called a segmented executable.[2] It utilizes the286 protected mode orunreal mode, and it can be 16-bit and 32-bit hybrid.[3]
The first product to be released using the New Executable format wasWindows 1.0 in 1985, followed by the 1986multitasking MS-DOS 4.0, which was a separate branch of MS-DOS development, released between mainstream MS-DOS versions 3.2 and 3.3, and sometimes referred to as "European MS-DOS 4.0".
ThePortable Executable (PE) format replaced NE format in 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, whileLinear Executables (LX) replaced NE for 32-bit programs in OS/2.VxD inWindows 9x also useLE format.
While designed for 16-bitOSes, NE executables can be run on 32-bitWindows. Beginning with Windows Vista, icon resources inside New Executables are not extracted and shown even by the 32-bit shell.[4] 64-bit versions of Windows completely lack native support for running NE executables, because 64-bit Windows cannot run 16-bit programs on the processor without the help of an emulator.
Due to the rare and fairly complex nature of these files, only a few.EXE packers support it: WinLite, PackWin,PKLite 2.01, and SLR Optloader or NeLite for OS/2. The NE format is also still used as (non-executable) container for.fon Microsoft Windows bitmapped fonts.
New (NE), linear (LX), and portable (PE) executables retain the DOS MZ format file header forbackward compatibility withDOS. When run under DOS, a so-calledDOS stub is executed which usually prints "This program cannot be run in DOS mode" or "This program requires Microsoft Windows" and exits. This constitutes a minimal form of a so-calledfat binary.
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