DOSBox
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.
"DOS box" redirects here. For the general concept, see Virtual DOS machine. For the DOS prompt in Windows, see Command Prompt.Original author(s)
Development[edit]
Before Windows XP, consumer-oriented versions of Windows were based on MS-DOS. Windows 3.0 and its updates were operating environments that ran on top of MS-DOS, and the Windows 9x series consisted of operating systems that were still based on MS-DOS.[6] These versions of Windows could run DOS applications. Conversely, the Windows NT operating systems were not based on DOS. A member of the series, Windows XP, debuted on October 25, 2001, and became the first consumer-oriented version of Windows to not use DOS. Although Windows XP could emulate DOS, it could not run many of its applications as they ran only in real mode to directly access the computer's hardware, and Windows XP's protected mode prevented such direct access for security reasons.[7][8] MS-DOS continued to receive support until the end of 2001,[9] and all support for any DOS-based Windows operating system ended on July 11, 2006.[10]
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]
Reception[edit]
DOSBox has become the de facto standard for running DOS games.[12][41] Rock, Paper, Shotgun positively remarked on the project's continual reception of updates, its influence on PC gaming, and some front ends designed to facilitate using it.[42] Freelance writer Michael Reed lauded the quality of scaled graphics and the project's overall focus on compatibility and accurate emulation, but criticized the lack of both save states and user-friendly control over the emulator during runtime, even with the front ends available at the time of his review.[43] DOSBox was named SourceForge's Project of the Month in May 2009[13] and again in January 2013, making it the first project in the website's history to receive two Project of the Month awards.[44] On the SourceForge website, it reached 10 million downloads on July 21, 2008,[13] and was downloaded more than 25 million times as of October 2015.[45]