DOSBox
The interface of DOSBox
Developed by	DOSBox Team
Latest release	0.72 / 27 August 2007
OS	Cross-platform
Genre	Emulator
License	GNU General Public License
Website	http://www.dosbox.com/

DOSBox is a program that emulates an Intel x86 computer running MS-DOS. It is intended for running DOS-based IBM PC compatible programs, especially computer games, which may not run properly on newer PCs and may not run at all on non-x86 hardware or operating systems (e.g. Mac OS on the PowerPC platform). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see Software developer (disambiguation). ... Code complete redirects here. ... is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... A cross-platform (or platform independent) programming language, software application or hardware device works on more than one system platform (e. ... This article is about emulators in computer science. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... GPL redirects here. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC, XT, or AT internal design, facilitated by various manufacturers... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... This article relates to both the original Classic Mac OS as well as Mac OS X, Apples more recent operating system. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ...

DOSBox has been used by software companies to redistribute MS-DOS-native games in a format which can be run on Windows NT-based operating systems. Most recently, Steam has teamed up with id Software to distribute various DOS games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Commander Keen bundled with DOSBox.^[1] Windows NT (New Technology) is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. ... id Software (IPA: officially, though originally ) is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. ... Wolfenstein 3D (commonly abbreviated to Wolf 3D) is the computer game that started the first person shooter genre on the PC. It was created by id Software and published by Apogee Software on May 5, 1992. ... Yorp redirects here. ...

DOSBox is available for many operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It has also been ported to a number of non-PC computer platforms, including the PlayStation Portable, Internet Tablet OS 2008, and the GP2X.^[2] Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, DOSBox is free software. Windows redirects here. ... Mac OS X (pronounced ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... The PlayStation Portable , officially abbreviated as PSP) is a handheld game console released and currently manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment. ... The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and media player created and sold by GamePark Holdings of South Korea. ... GPL redirects here. ... Free software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things. ...

Features

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• Contrary to compatibility layers such as dosemu or VDMs for Windows and OS/2, which rely on virtualization capabilities of the 386 family processors, DOSBox is a full CPU emulator. The emulator is capable of running DOS programs that require the CPU to be in real mode or protected mode.
• Dynamic CPU core: On systems which have the i386 instruction set, the option to use dynamic instruction translation is available in DOSBox. Though this setting is less accurate and reliable, it is significantly faster than interpretive CPU emulation.
• Graphics emulation: DOSBox is capable of emulating various graphical settings, including text mode, Hercules, CGA (including composite and 160x100x16 tweaked modes), Tandy, EGA, VGA (including Mode X and other tweaks), VESA, and full S3 Trio 64 emulation.
• Sound emulation: DOSBox is also capable of emulating serveral sound cards, including AdLib, Gravis Ultrasound, PC speaker, Tandy, Creative Music System/GameBlaster, Sound Blaster 1.x/2.0/Pro/16, MPU-401, and Disney Sound Source. (MT-32/CM-32L emulation is included in some builds[1], but not in the main build due to need for copyrighted ROM images.)
• The ability to capture screenshots and record gameplay footage. The video is compressed using the ZMBV (Zip Motion Block Video) Codec. In its uncompressed state the footage is almost an exact replica of the actual program. The video recording feature was added in version 0.65. In earlier versions, one had to rely on custom modifications and Fraps [2] to record video, but the quality and emulator performance was generally very poor.
• Network emulation: A component that differentiates DOSBox from other emulators is its ability to simulate peer-to-peer or Internet/Intranet networking. This includes modem simulation over TCP/IP, allowing for DOS modem games to be played over modern LANs or the Internet, and IPX network tunneling, which allows for old IPX DOS multiplayer games to be played as UDP/IP over modern LANs or the Internet. Win32 and Linux specific builds support direct serial port access.
• Shell: It contains its own internal DOS-like shell, rather than being a fully virtual PC emulator like Bochs. Most commands that are typically used in installer batch files are supported, but many of the more advanced commands of later MS-DOS versions (e.g. post-Windows 98 DOS shells) are not.
• Bootable images: In addition to its internal shell, DOSBox also supports running image files of games and software originally intended to start without any operating system.
• Serial Port: DOSBox is capable of timing compatible implementation of the serial ports, and runs several old hardware and software dependent on such; however, some USB devices that are supported by the host OS can act as a replacement for older serial port devices when using the emulator.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to everyday speech. ... In software engineering, a compatibility layer allows binaries for an emulated system to run on a host system. ... DOSEMU, alternatively rendered dosemu, is a compatibility layer software package that enables MS-DOS software to run under Linux on x86-based PCs (IBM PC compatible computers). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Intel386[1] is a microprocessor which was used as the central processing unit (CPU) of many personal computers from 1986 until 2007. ... CPU redirects here. ... Real mode (also called real address mode in Intels manuals) is an operating mode of 80286 and later x86-compatible CPUs. ... Protected mode is an operational mode of x86-compatible CPUs of the 80286 series or later. ... The Intel 80386 is a microprocessor which was used as the central processing unit (CPU) of many personal computers from 1986 until 1994 and later. ... An instruction set is (a list of) all instructions, and all their variations, that a processor can execute. ... In computing, binary translation is the emulation of one instruction set by another through translation of code. ... The Hercules Graphics Card (HGC) was a mid-1980s computer graphics controller which through its popularity became a de-facto display standard. ... The 640×200 2 color mode with its default foreground color — Arachne Internet suite. ... The Tandy 1000 was a line of more or less IBM PC compatible home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack chain of stores. ... EGA may stand for Enhanced Graphics Adapter Éléments de géométrie algébrique. ... Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a computer display standard first marketed in 1987 by IBM. VGA belongs to a family of earlier IBM video standards and largely remains backward compatible with them. ... Mode X is an undocumented video graphics display mode of the IBM VGA graphics hardware that was popularized by Michael Abrash, first published in July 1991 in Dr. Dobbs Journal, republished in chapters 47-49 of Abrashs Graphics Programming Black Book, which is now freely available online in... VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) comprise a VESA standard, currently at version 3, that defines the interface that can be used by software to access compliant video boards at high resolutions and bit depths. ... The S3 Trio range were popular graphics chipsets for personal computers. ... AdLib, Inc. ... The GF1 chip Gravis Ultrasound or GUS is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform, made by Canadian-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. ... The PC speaker is the most primitive sound system used in IBM compatible PCs, and in fact used to be the only one in use in PC games before more technologically advanced sound cards such as AdLib or the Sound Blaster were introduced as ISA plug-in cards in the... The Tandy 1000 was a line of more or less IBM PC compatible home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack chain of stores. ... The Sound Blaster logo The Sound Blaster family of sound cards was for many years the de facto standard for audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, before PC audio became commoditized, and backward-compatibility became less of a feature. ... The Sound Blaster logo The Sound Blaster family of sound cards was for many years the de facto standard for audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, before PC audio became commoditized, and backward-compatibility became less of a feature. ... The MPU-401, where MPU stands for MIDI Processing Unit, is an important but now obsolescent standard for MIDI interfaces on the PC platform. ... The Covox Speech Thing (also known as Covox plug) was a piece of computer periphery used to output digital sound. ... The Roland MT-32 is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by the Roland Corporation. ... The Roland CM-32L is a MIDI synthesizer module first released by Roland Corporation in 1989. ... A ROM image, or simply ROM, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computers firmware, or from an arcade games main board. ... For other uses, see Modem (disambiguation). ... The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet and most commercial networks run. ... See also Ericsson IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack. ... Bochs for Windows displaying HAL91 (Linux) Bochs is a portable open source x86 and AMD64 PCs emulator mostly written in C++ and distributed under GNU Lesser General Public License. ... Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ... In computing, booting is a bootstrapping process that starts operating systems when the user turns on a computer system. ... Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ...

Issues

As with most emulators, DOSBox requires substantially more computing (particularly processor) power than the original systems, and is greatly affected by what software the user is running in the emulated system at the time. This weakness can be sometimes greatly reduced by using an open source substitute of the most common protected mode memory extender DOS/4GW (the much smaller and faster DOS32a). Moreover, DOS programs that run in protected mode, which include most games released after 1995, may not perform as well as in other emulators such as VMware or Virtual PC, since those programs mostly virtualize the processor instead of emulating it like DOSBox. Protected mode is an operational mode of x86-compatible CPUs of the 80286 series or later. ... DOS/4GW is the most widely used 32-bit DOS extender, designed to allow DOS programs to eliminate the inherent DOS 640KB memory limit by addressing all the extended memory on Intel 80386 and above machines in MS-DOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, the DOS boxes of OS/2, Windows... Protected mode is an operational mode of x86-compatible CPUs of the 80286 series or later. ... VMware, Inc. ... Virtual PC is a virtualization suite for Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems, originally created by Connectix, subsequently acquired by Microsoft. ...

Since the GP2X port for DOSBox has suboptimal controls for certain DOS games that require a significant portion of the keyboard, some text-input utilities have been created to suit the limitations of the GP2X and take advantage of the classic features of DOS emulated on the GP2X port.^[3] Also, some prescripted games for the GP2X version of DOSBox have been made to take advantage of the emulator.^[4] These games and demos for the GP2X version of DOSBox are mostly compiled with QuickBASIC 4.5.^[5] DOSBox for the GP2X also uses the English keyboard layout so foreign users may have difficulty typing certain characters (notable : and ). The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and media player created and sold by GamePark Holdings of South Korea. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Microsoft QuickBASIC (also QB or sometimes, QBasic, which is also a different system) is an Integrated Development Environment (or IDE) and Compiler for the BASIC programming language that was developed by Microsoft. ... The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and media player created and sold by GamePark Holdings of South Korea. ...

Frontends

DOSBox is configured by editing a plaintext configuration file. Frontends can also be advantageous for experienced users with large collections of games, since they often allow for easy sorting by game title, developer, publisher, etc. In their most general meanings, the terms front end and back end refer to the initial and the end stages of a process flow. ...

Over the years, several such graphical frontends have been developed for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, including: Windows redirects here. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... Mac OS X (pronounced ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...

• DBGL
• D.O.G.
• D-Fend (No longer under development, replaced by D-Fend Reloaded)

A more complete list of available frontends can be found at the DOSBox wiki.

See also

• Comparison of virtual machines
• Category:DOS games
• MS-DOS
• COMMAND.COM

Image File history File links Free_Software_Portal_Logo. ... The table below compares basic information about virtual machine packages. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... COMMAND.COM is the name for the default operating system shell (or command line interpreter) for DOS and 16/32bits versions of Windows (95/98/98 SE/Me). ...

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

DOSBox

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DOSBox

• Official website
• Official DOSBox forum