.EXE files are EVIL!!

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ive been trying to get older games like sonic and the original mario games through emulators and stuff like that. unfortunatley there are very few games for macs that work. does anyone know of some kinda of converter that can convert .EXE file to .dmg . thank you
 

Cory Cooper

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There aren't any. EXE files are Windows executable files...not executable on Macs (unless you are running Windows in Boot Camp or Parallels).
 

karazelle

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does anyone know of some kinda of converter that can convert .EXE file to .dmg . thank you

I thought I should clarify, also in case someone else reads this and wonder:

Briefly, a .exe doesn't equal a dmg as such. The .exe is to windows what an .app is to MacOS X, that is if you had a concept like DMG on Windows, when you opened the DMG you'd find the .exe.

If you want to go slightly more technical (but very simplified, fellow programmers, don't hate me):

An .exe is the actual program file (.executable) for a Windows program, the icon you double click to get it running.

So just like you run Calculator.app to use the calculator, you're actually running Calculator.app/Contents/MacOS/Calculator. On MacOS X, an "appliction bundle", usually called an .app (though Finder hides the .app part) is the "magic" that lets you have one icon represent a whole program. The support files the program need are also inside the same .app bundle. Think of a bundle as a kind of "secret folder structure" where you just get the program when you start it instead of seeing all the dirty parts the program or game consist of.

On PC and Windows, this is not so. You get to see all the dirty parts if you stray from the Start menu concept. If you were to drill down to "C:\Program files\My Very Cool Game", you'd have a folder with several files, one of which is the .EXE and that is the program you run to get it started (there may be more .exe files but one of them is used to start the thing).
You may then have DLL files and other files with all kinds of file names that represent the assets or resources that program is using. A program can be as simple as just an EXE file that has all of it built in, or just an EXE file, a data file and perhaps a DLL file. The DLL file contains code that can be shared across many programs or parts of the same program (similar, though distantly, with "kits" and "frameworks" on Mac).
For example, in the game BeJewled 2, the code to generally make the gaming board graphics would easily be in a DLL file, then data files would make sure that on level 1 the background is an alien sea, on level 2 its a blue moon etc. The DLL would have the code to draw up the game board, and the small files in the folder would contain the "filling" that sets one level apart from another. Other parts handle the increased difficulty and so on, or thats also in either the EXE file or DLL file, depending on the programmers choice.

Emulators work by either simulating a PC with DOS or Windows (like virtual pc or dosbox),
or by ignoring the programming logic necessary for the DOS/Windows enviroment to work, and focus only on the logic of what the program or game attempts to do (like ScummVM, MAME and so on).

And please excuse my poor english. Its not my native language.
 

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