Quote:
Originally Posted by realthk
I believe AZW is the same format as MOBI, with Amazon-specific DRM added.
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The terminology of Kindle formats is confusing and inconsistent.
MOBI format originated with the French company MobiPocket which Amazon purchased in 2005. In order to support improvements to the format over time each MOBI file has a version number associated with it. Versions up to 7 are considered by Amazon to be MOBI7 and version 8 is called KF8 (Kindle Format 8). In addition there is Master-MOBI produced by kindlegen which contains version 8 along with an older version in a single file.
The file extension .azw is used in different ways depending on the reading app/device. On a Kindle device it is used for MOBI7 files, but in the Kindle for PC app it can contain any Kindle format including KF8 or KFX (Kindle format 10).
While .azw can be used for different formats, the file extension .azw3 is only used for KF8. Some other file extensions used to refer to various Kindle formats are .mobi, .prc, .kfx, .azk, .azw4, .azw6, .azw8, and .azw9.
calibre uses it's own terminology for Kindle formats which differs from that used by Amazon.