DOSBox
Original author(s) | Peter "Qbix" Veenstra, Sjoerd "Harekiet" van der Berg |
---|---|
Developer(s) | The DOSBox Team |
Initial release | January 31, 2002[1] |
Stable release | 0.74-3[2]
/ 26 June 2019 |
Repository | |
Written in | Windows |
Available in | English (but allows for alternative keyboard layouts)[3] |
Type | Virtual machine, emulator |
License | GPL-2.0-or-later[4] |
Website | www |
DOSBox is a free and open-source emulator which runs software for MS-DOS compatible disk operating systems—primarily video games.[5] It was first released in 2002, when DOS technology was becoming obsolete. Its adoption for running DOS games is widespread, with it being used in commercial re-releases of those games as well.
Development
Before
The development of DOSBox began around the launch of Windows 2000—a Windows NT system[11]—when its creators,[12] Dutch programmers Peter Veenstra and Sjoerd van der Berg, discovered that the operating system had dropped much of its support for DOS software. The two knew of solutions at the time, but they could not run the applications in windowed mode or scale the graphics. The project was first uploaded to SourceForge and released for beta testing on July 22, 2002.[13]
Features
DOSBox is a
While the DOSBox project hopes that one day the emulator will run all programs ever made for the PC, the goal is not yet reached,[14] and as of the latest version the primary focus has been on DOS gaming. The basic version does not support long filenames, most versions of DOS do not support them, and filenames must follow the 8.3 name.extension pattern: a maximum of 8 characters for the name and up to 3 characters for the extension. Otherwise, filenames will be altered to fit the pattern.[15][16]
There are versions available on the DOSBox website that support long filenames, at the cost of possible incompatibility with some older programs.[17] The focus of the vanilla version is on gaming, and features such as support for
Users can also capture screenshots and record videos of DOS sessions, although a codec is required to play the videos.[4] It is also possible to record OPL sound card and MIDI commands, as well as save sound output on a WAV file.[21] Keyboard keys and the buttons of a game controller can be mapped to other keys and combinations thereof.[22]
OS emulation
DOSBox is a full-system emulator that provides BIOS interrupts[23] and contains its own internal DOS-like shell. This means that it can be used without owning a license to any real DOS operating system. Most commands that are found in COMMAND.COM are supported,[24] but many of the more advanced commands found in the latest MS-DOS versions are not.[25] In addition to its internal shell, it also supports running image files of games and software originally intended to start without any operating system.[24] Besides emulating DOS, users can also run Windows 3.0 and applications designed for it,[26] as well as versions of Windows within the Windows 9x family.[27]
When the DOSBox application is opened, it automatically mounts to a virtual, permanent[24] Z:
drive that stores DOSBox commands and utilities.[28] The reasons for the virtual drive are related to security,[29] but the user can mount a different drive letter in the emulator to a directory, image file, floppy disk drive, or CD-ROM drive on the host to access its data. A configuration file and its AUTOEXEC section can be used to respectively configure DOSBox settings and execute DOS commands at startup.[24]
Hardware emulation
DOSBox is capable of running DOS programs that require the
DOSBox uses the
DOSBox can simulate serial
Reception
DOSBox has become the de facto standard for running DOS games.
Usage
Since January 2011, the developers of the Wine compatibility layer have integrated DOSBox into Wine to facilitate running DOS programs that are not supported natively by the Wine Virtual DOS machine.[46]
Since January 2015, the Internet Archive has added thousands of DOS games to its software library. As of October 2019[update], the DOS library contained 6,934 games.[47] The collection is provided for "scholarship and research purposes only".[48]
Forks
- Em-DOSBox[49][50] uses Emscripten to convert the emulator's C++ code[51] to JavaScript, making the games playable on a web browser.[52]
- DOSBox-X[53][54] aims to be compatible with all pre-2000 DOS and Windows 9x based hardware scenarios.[55]
- DOSBox Staging[56] aims to be a modern continuation of DOSBox; with modern coding practices and advanced features.
- DOSBox Purelibretrocore that implements DOSBox, with some additional features such as state saving and rewind.
- jDOSBox[58][59] is a pure Java x86 emulator based on DOSBox. It was created to run all DOS games as well as DOSBox, but in the browser (before Java applets were discontinued). In addition, it will boot up Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows XP, ReactOS and some flavors of Linux such as DSL.[60]
Commercial
DOSBox has also been both the most used DOS emulator and, because of the straightforward process of making the games work on modern computers,
See also
Notes
- ^ "DOSBox (old homepage)". Archived from the original on March 24, 2002. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ "DOSBox 0.74-3 has been released!". June 26, 2019.
- ^ Manual 2019, 8. Keyboard Layout.
- ^ . Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ^ "DOSBox, an x86 emulator with DOS". www.dosbox.com.
- ^ Norton 2004, p. 286.
- ^ Hoffman, Chris (May 11, 2014). "PCs Before Windows: What Using MS-DOS Was Actually Like". How-To Geek. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ISBN 9780132603201. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-7897-4199-8. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
- ^ Thurrott, Paul (April 12, 2006). "Finally, Windows 98/Me Move Towards Retirement". ITPro Today. Informa. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
- ^ Norton 2004, p. 288.
- ^ a b c Loguidice & Barton 2014, p. 103.
- ^ a b c "Project of the Month, May 2009". SourceForge. Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ Manual 2019, NOTE.
- ^ Váša, Kryštof (2013). Modular Objective-C Run-Time Library (Thesis). Charles University. p. 84. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ISBN 9781111309770. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ a b "DOSBox Enhanced SVN builds". DOSBox. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- hdl:10016/15584. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ISBN 1430200278. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ a b Bartel, Alexandre (October 24, 2019). DOS Software Security: Is there Anyone Left to Patch a 25-year old Vulnerability? (PDF) (Thesis). Hack.lu. p. 1–2, 18. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ Manual 2019, 5. Special Keys.
- ^ Manual 2019, 7. KeyMapper.
- S2CID 8334945. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Manual 2019, 4. Internal Programs.
- Planets Project. Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute: 23. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ Loguidice & Barton 2014, p. 241.
- ^ Barbera, Diego (February 15, 2019). "Videogiochi vintage, i migliori emulatori per pc, Mac e Linux" [Vintage video games, the best emulators for PC, Mac and Linux]. Wired (in Italian). Retrieved November 11, 2020.
Drake, Nate (June 25, 2018). "How to get the Windows 98 experience on today's PCs". TechRadar. p. 3. Retrieved November 11, 2020. - ISBN 9781484230008. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Koldyrkaev, Nikolay (January 2008). "Apple Virtualization". PC World (in Russian). No. 61. p. 36. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Qbix (April 30, 2008). "Interview with Qbix" (Interview). Interviewed by Classic Dos Games. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- ^ Manual 2019, 10. How to speed up/slow down DOSBox.
- ^ Hoffman, Chris (October 5, 2015). "How To Use DOSBox To Run DOS Games and Old Apps". How-To Geek. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- PC-Welt(in German). Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Bikoulis, Alexandros (October 2, 2018). "Flatrate-Gaming à la EA". PC Games Hardware (in German). pp. 112–113. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- hdl:2142/17097. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ Manual 2019, 3. Command Line Parameters.
- ^ Manual 2019, 2. Start (FAQ).
- ^ Castle, Alex (August 2010). "Run All Your Old Games Using DOSBox". Maximum PC. p. 67. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ^ Manual 2019, 6. Joystick/Gamepad.
- ^ Edwards, Benj (June 6, 2020). "How the Gravis PC GamePad Transformed PC Gaming in the '90s". How-To Geek. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ Aamoth, Doug (May 9, 2014). "5 Great No-Fuss Sites for Finding Classic Computer Games". Time. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ Reed, Michael (June 5, 2008). "DOSBox, a multiplatform PC emulator". Free Software Magazine. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ "Project of the Month, January 2013". SourceForge. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ Rosenthal, David S. H. (October 2015). Emulation & Virtualization as Preservation Strategies (Report). The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ Pošvic, Kamil (January 24, 2011). "Wine začíná implementovat DOSBox" [Wine is starting to implement DOSBox]. Root.cz (in Czech). Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Carpenter, Nicole (October 15, 2019). "Nearly 7,000 games available in MS-DOS archive, including the original goose game". Polygon. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ "Internet Archive's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Copyright Policy". December 31, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
Access to the Archive's Collections is provided at no cost to you and is granted for scholarship and research purposes only.
- ^ Machkovech, Sam (January 6, 2015). "Over 2,300 MS-DOS games now completely free to play at Internet Archive". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ Gjenero, Boris. "DOSBox ported to Emscripten". github.com/dreamlayers/em-dosbox.
- ISSN 1338-3957.
- . Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ "DOSBox-X - Accurate DOS emulation for Windows, Linux, macOS, and DOS". dosbox-x.com.
- ^ Campbell, Jonathan (December 18, 2022). "joncampbell123/dosbox-x". GitHub.
- ^ "DOSBox - Emulation General Wiki". emulation.gametechwiki.com.
- ^ "DOSBox Staging". dosbox-staging.github.io.
- ^ "DOSBox Pure". github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure.
- ^ "jDosbox". sourceforge.net/projects/jdosbox. June 29, 2014.
- ^ "jDOSBox". github.com/Tennessene/jDOSBox.
- ^ "Status - jDosbox". jdosbox.sourceforge.net/cms. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019.
- ^ Au, Alan (June 7, 2011). "Everything Good Old is New Again". The Escapist. No. 309.
- ^ Orland, Kyle (March 20, 2016). "How the demonization of emulation devalues gaming's heritage". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ^ Purchese, Rob (August 7, 2007). "id sorts GPL Steam issue". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- ^ Dasgupta, Julian (July 23, 2009). "Activision Blizzard: Veröffentlicht Sierra-Oldies". 4Players. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ Bergman, Jason (September 4, 2008). "Comments-morning discussion". Shacknews. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
- ^ Haynes, Jeff (July 9, 2009). "Bethesda's Free Daggerfall". IGN. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Peel, Jeremy (September 17, 2014). "The Elder Scrolls Anthology is a cross-section of PC gaming history, now available in Europe". PCGamesN. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (March 3, 2015). "The original Syndicate is Origin's new On the House freebie". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
References
- DOSBox v0.74-3 Manual. The DOSBox Team. 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- Norton, Peter (December 30, 2004). Peter Norton's Intro to Computers 6/e. ISBN 0072978902. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- Loguidice, Bill; Barton, Matt (February 24, 2014). Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time. ISBN 9781135006518. Retrieved November 8, 2020.