CAB extension designates Microsoft
Cabinet
format,
a compressed archive / package standard developed by Microsoft,
employing various
compression algorithms standards including public domain Phil Katz's
Deflate (default compressor algorithm for .zip format), to create
various types
of compressed
packages used for multiple purposes, such as distribution of software
components and updates.
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.CAB extension
is associated to PeaZip by
default, from read-supported
formats
group in File
associations screen of Windows installers. This option can be
selected/deselected running
custom installation or from application's main menu Options
> System integration
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CAB packages role featured for Microsoft Windows world is similar to
some
extent to
TAR in Unix/Linux world, or to functions later performed by Microsoft's
WIM Windows
Imaging Format (supported by PeaZip for extraction and
archiving) for Vista and more recent systems - still, CAB format works
with more recent Microsoft ssystems.
Maximum size limit
specifications for CAB files
CAB format is limited
to a max size of 2 GB, 2^31 bytes in size (signed 32 bit integer for
filesize), theoretically a spanned CAB set of files allows up to 2^16
parts of 2 GB maximum size each. To overcome limitations of CAB package
format specifications, Microsoft designed the more modern WIM Windows
Imaging format.
Read more on
.cab extension: Microsoft
Cabinet
format page on
MSDN, CAB Wikipedia
page, and WIM format
specifications on
Microsoft Technet.
PeaZip features read-only support for
CAB files, allowing opening for browsing/inspection, selective
content extraction from CABINET file container, and to convert cab
files to other archive formats (ZIP, 7Z, etc) more handy to work
with in a non-Windows or mixed Operating Systems environment.
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.CAB
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Author
Microsoft
2 GB max file size (per part)
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SPEED 
CAB format features usually high speed, due commonly employing Deflate,
suited to its primary
role of package distribution.
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COMPRESSION
RATIO 
Cab file format features usually moderate compression ratio, in most
common cases CAB packages comes with fast but
moderate Deflate compression. |
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ADVANCED
OPTIONS N/A
CAB file type is usually employed as distribution for software
packages, cannot
be evaluated in terms of pure archiving options.
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Synopsis: What is CAB
file format, Microsoft Cabinet archives / packages extension. What are
CAB files features and specifications. What are Cabinet containers used
for.
PeaZip > FAQ
> What is CAB format (Microsoft Cabinet files)
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