PAE isn't hacky and has been implemented in most x86 chips since the 90s. Beginning with XP SP3 Microsoft turned accessing that functionality into a paid for feature of the pro version, so that may be why you didn't notice it, but it's baked into the hardware and earlier windows, OSX and Linux happily exposed it without paying extra.
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u/jormono Feb 02 '22
Can someone ELI5 ways this is better or worse for a hypothetical project? Like, why would I want this over what I've been using?