Maximum path length for files in RAR and ZIP archives is increased to 2,048 characters. AES encryption, when used, is in CBC mode and was increased in strength from 128- to 256-bit. The RAR5 file format increased the maximum dictionary size to 1 GB 11 different compression directory sizes from 1 MB to 1 GB are available, with the default in version 5 increased from 4 MB to 32 MB, typically improving compression ratio. WinRAR versions before 5.0 do not support RAR5 archives only older versions of WinRAR run on Windows versions prior to Windows Vista, and cannot open RAR5 archives.
Support for the archive format RAR5, using the same RAR file extension as earlier versions, was added in version 5.0 the older RAR file format has since been referred to as RAR4.
WinRAR and the RAR file format have evolved over time.
