The Old New Thing

If there is no 16-bit emulation layer in 64-bit Windows, how come certain 16-bit installers are allowed to run?

Troy Martin is puzzled by the remark in this knowledge base article that says No 16-bit code can run, except for recognized InstallShield and Acme installers (these are hard-coded in Wow64 to allow them to work). I agree that the sentence is rather confusingly written. It says "No 16-bit code can run, except for this code that runs." ...