MATLAB: What is the difference between ‘matlab.exe’ in matlabroot\bin and matlabroot\bin\ directory in MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a)

.binbin\win32bin\win64MATLAB

I am trying to know the difference between 'matlab.exe' in the following two folders:
 
$matlabroot\bin
$matlabroot\bin\<arch>
where 'matlabroot' is the MATLAB installation directory and <arch> is the directory specific to architecture of the system (e.g., win32, win64, gnlx86, glnxa64, etc.).
I am also trying to know which 'matlab.exe' should be used for registering as an automation server.

Best Answer

The 'matlab.exe' in the bin folder is just a wrapper for the ‘matlab.exe’ in bin\<arch>. What is important to know is that when you are on the system command prompt (e.g., DOS prompt) and in the bin folder, you can see different options to launch MATLAB by using the command below on the prompt:
 
matlab -?
When you run the same command under bin\<arch>, you may not see any such options. However, it is possible to register MATLAB as regserver from both the locations.