86Box is an open source tool by 86Box Team.
Description:
86Box is a low level x86 emulator that runs older operating systems and software designed for IBM PC systems and compatibles from 1981 through fairly recent system designs based on the PCI bus.
Features:
- Easy to use interface inspired by mainstream hypervisor software
- Low level emulation of 8086-based processors up to the Mendocino-era Celeron with focus on accuracy
- Great range of customizability of virtual machines
- Many available systems, such as the very first IBM PC 5150 from 1981, or the more obscure IBM PS/2 line of systems based on the Micro Channel Architecture
- Lots of supported peripherals including video adapters, sound cards, network adapters, hard disk controllers, and SCSI adapters
- MIDI output to Windows built-in MIDI support, FluidSynth, or emulated Roland synthesizers
- Supports running MS-DOS, older Windows versions, OS/2, many Linux distributions, or vintage systems such as BeOS or NEXTSTEP, and applications for these systems
Minimum system requirements and recommendations:
Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 processor or newer
Windows version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or later
Linux version: Ubuntu 16.04, Debian 9.0 or other distributions from 2016 onwards
macOS version: macOS High Sierra 10.13 or newer
4 GB of RAM or higher
Performance may vary depending on both host and guest configuration. Most emulation logic is executed in a single thread; therefore, systems with better IPC (instructions per clock) generally should be able to emulate higher clock speeds.
It is also recommended to use a manager application with 86Box for easier handling of multiple virtual machines.
86Box Manager by Overdoze (Windows only)
86Box Manager X by xafero (Cross platform Port of 86Box Manager using Avalonia)
sl86 by DDX (Command-line 86Box machine manager written in Python)
Linbox-qt5 by Dungeonseeker (Linux focused, should work on Windows though untested)
MacBox for 86Box by Moonif (MacOS only)
It is also possible to use 86Box on its own with the --vmpath/-P command line option.
Getting started
See our documentation for an overview of the emulator's features and user interface.
- Last update: Tuesday, February 18, 2025
- File size: 61.4 MB
