Why is 0x00400000 the default base address for an executable?

Raymond Chen October 3, 2014 Oct 3, 2014 10/3/14

The default base address for a DLL is 0x10000000, but the default base address for an EXE is 0x00400000. Why that particular value for EXEs? What's so special about 4 megabytes It has to do with the amount of address space mapped by a single page directory entry on an x86 and a design decision made in 1987. The only technical requirement ...