Backward compatibility

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Backward compatibility

In technology

Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
, for example in telecommunications and computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and developing computer technology, computer hardware and computer software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology....
, a device or technology is said to be backwards compatible if it allows input generated by older devices. A standard, for example a data format or a communication protocol

Communications protocol

In the field of telecommunications, a communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation, Signalling , authentication and Error detection and correction required to send information over a communications channel....
, is said to allow backward compatibility, if products designed for the new standard can receive, read, view or play older standards or formats.

This should not be confused with forward compatibility

Forward compatibility

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Encyclopedia

In technology

Technology

Computing

Communications protocol

Forward compatibility

Forward compatibility is the ability of a system to gracefully accept input intended for later versions of itself.Although forward compatibility and extensibility are similar, they are not the same....
, which implies that old devices allow ( or are expected to allow) data formats generated by new (or future) devices, perhaps without supporting all new features. A standard supports forward compatibility if older product versions can receive, read, view or play the new standard.

For example, the introduction of FM stereo transmission, or color television, allowed backward compatibility since new receivers could receive monophonic

Monophonic

Monophonic can mean:* In recorded Sound recording, a monaural recording with only one channel. Compare: stereophonic , quadraphonic.* In texture , monophony....
or black-and-white signals generated by old transmitters. It also allowed forward compatibility, since old (and new) monophonic FM radio receivers and black-and-white TV sets still could receive a signal from a new transmitter.

In programming languages, backwards compatibility refers to the ability of a compiler for version N of the language to accept programs or data that worked under version N - 1. (By this definition, if version N - 1 and other previous versions were also backward compatible, which is often the case, then by the principle of recursion, version N will also accept input that worked under any prior version after the latest one that was not non–backward compatible.)

In other contexts, a product or a technology is said to be backward compatible when it is able to fully take the place of an older product, by inter-operating with products that were designed for the older product.

Description

Backward compatibility is a relationship between two components, rather than being an attribute of just one of them. More generally, a new component is said to be backward compatible if it provides all of the functionality of the old component.

Backward compatibility is the special case of compatibility in which the new component has a direct historical ancestral relationship with the old component. If this special relationship does not exist then it not usually spoken of as "backward" compatibility but is instead just "compatible"—a consistent interface allowing interoperability

Interoperability

Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to system performance....
between components and products that were each developed separately.

Data does nothing in the absence of an interpreter, so the notion of compatibility does not apply to document files, it only applies to software. In the case of a program that creates document files, a new version of that program ("v2") is said to be backward compatible with the old version of the program ("v1") when it can both read and write documents that work with v1. Everything that v1 could do must also be possible with v2, including saving documents that can be read by v1 (which is something that v1 could do.)

If a newer software version cannot save files that can be read by the older version, it is not backward compatible with the older version, although it may provide an irreversible upgrade

Upgrade

The term upgrade refers to the replacement of a product with a newer version of that same product. It is most often used in computing and consumer electronics, generally meaning a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date or to improve its characteristics....
capability for the old files. This situation has often been used strategically by software vendors to force customers to purchase upgrades since, over time, the number of data files usable by an old version diminishes at a rate proportional to the number of other customers that have upgraded (assuming that all customers generate files at the same the average rate.)

Levels of compatibility vary. In software, binary compatibility and source compatibility are distinguishable. Binary compatibility means that programs can work correctly with the new version of this library without requiring recompilation

Compiler

A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language . The most common reason for wanting to transform source code is to create an executable program....
. Source compatibility requires recompilation but no changes to the source code.

Many platforms rely on emulation, the simulation of an older platform in software, to achieve backward compatibility.

Compatibility checking

Approaches for checking compatibility between the client program and the server component include:

Check by version number;
Check by an interface definition language (IDL)
Check by just-in-time test runs (the client program gives some example inputs to the server component to see if the component returns the desired example outputs).

Examples

PCI Express
PCI Express

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express , officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a computer expansion card standard designed to replace the older PCI Local Bus, PCI-X, and Accelerated Graphics Port standards....
2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.1.
The NTSC
NTSC

NTSC is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories ....
colour broadcast system was engineered by RCA
RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the RCA is owned by the France conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson....
to be backward compatible with black-and-white
Black-and-white

Black-and-white is a number of monochrome forms in visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses....
NTSC television sets.
A computer system is backward compatible if it is able to work with software or accessories designed for the system it is meant to replace.

The IBM 7080
IBM 7080

The IBM 7080 was a transistorized variable word length Binary-coded decimal#IBM and BCD computer in the IBM 700/7000 series commercial architecture line, introduced in August 1961, that provided an upgrade path from the vacuum tube IBM 705 computer....
transistor
Transistor

In electronics, a transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to Electronic amplifier or switch Electronics signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit....
ized computer was backward compatible with all models of the IBM 705 vacuum tube
Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , thermionic valve, or just valve is a device used to amplifier, switch, otherwise modify, or create an Electricity signal by controlling the movement of electrons in a low-pressure space....
computer.
The Apple
Apple Computer

Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an United States multinational corporation which designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products....
Macintosh PowerPC
PowerPC

PowerPC is a RISC instruction set architecture created by the 1991 Apple Inc.?IBM?Motorola alliance, known as AIM alliance. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded system and high-performance processors....
-based models are backward compatible with the earlier Macintosh computers using the Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000

The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit Complex instruction set computer microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor ....
CPU, through emulation implemented in the Mac OS; this means that PowerPC Macs can run all programs for the 68000 Macs (but not vice-versa—that would be forward compatibility.)
The Atari 7800
Atari 7800

The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console released by Atari Corporation in June 1986. A test market release had occurred two years earlier under Atari, Inc....
is backward compatible with most Atari 2600
Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridge containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated console hardware with all games built in....
games.
The Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit Handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo; resembling Sega's 8-bit Game Gear. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color....
line (except the Game Boy Micro
Game Boy Micro

is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The system is the second major redesign of the Game Boy Advance, and is marketed towards the "image conscious" consumer, with emphasis placed on its small size and sleek design....
) is backward compatible with previous Game Boy systems
Game Boy line

The line is a line of Battery -powered handheld game consoles sold by Nintendo. It is one of the world's List of best-selling game consoles lines with nearly 200 million units sold worldwide, as of November 17, 2006....
, meaning all Game Boy
Game Boy

The is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in August , and in Europe in ....
and Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color

The is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan and in November 19, 1998 in North America and November 23, 1998 in Europe....
titles are playable on this system (except Game Boy title Road Rash).
The Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS

The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in video gaming in Canada, the United States, and Japan....
is backward compatible with Game Boy Advance games (except Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon Version) only in single-player mode, due to the system's lack of a GBA link cable port, but not the newly release Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DSi

The is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS handheld developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2008 and is scheduled for release in Australia on April 2, 2009, Europe on April 3, 2009 and North America on April 5, 2009....
which is not compatible with GBA games or any peripheral using the Slot 2, for example Guitar Hero: On Tour
Guitar Hero: On Tour

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a music video game for the Nintendo DS system, based on the Guitar Hero series of video games. The game is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by RedOctane and Activision....
.
The PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
is backward compatible with most of the original PlayStation
PlayStation

The PlayStation is a 32-bit history of video game consoles video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in December .The PlayStation was the first of the ubiquitous PlayStation ....
library.
The initial PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation ....
model is backward compatible with most PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. This is provided by the inclusion of the original Emotion Engine
Emotion Engine

The Emotion Engine is a CPU developed and manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment and Toshiba for use in the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console....
chip that is built inside the PS2. This form of compatibility is only available to the first series of consoles that launched across North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
and Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
, the later launch of the system in many PAL
PAL

PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a color-encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analog television systems are SECAM and NTSC....
areas (Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Oceania
Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....
, Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
) lacked the chip provided in the original units and instead relied on software emulation (which greatly reduced the number of playable titles) for backwards compatibility. Newer versions of the console lack the PS2 chips, therefore no production models of the PlayStation 3 are capable of playing PlayStation 2 games.
All of Intel x86 processors
X86 architecture

The generic term x86 refers to the most commercially successful instruction set architecture in the history of personal computing. It derived from the model numbers, ending in "86", of the first few processor generations Backward compatibility with the original Intel 8086....
– Core 2
Intel Core 2

The Core 2 brand refers to a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit single- and dual-core and 2x2 Multi-Chip Module quad-core CPUs with the x86-64 instruction set, based on the Intel Core microarchitecture, derived from the 32-bit dual-core Intel Core laptop processor....
, Core
Intel Core

The Core brand refers to Intel's 32-bit mobile dual-core x86 CPUs that derived from the Pentium M branded processors. The processor family used a more advanced version of the Intel P6 microarchitecture....
, Pentium 4
Pentium 4

The Pentium 4 brand refers to Intel's line of single-core mainstream Desktop computer and laptop central processing units introduced on November 20, 2000 ....
, Pentium III
Pentium III

The Pentium III brand refers to Intel's 32-bit x86 desktop and mobile microprocessors based on the sixth-generation Intel P6 microarchitecture introduced on February 26, 1999....
, Pentium II
Pentium II

The Pentium II brand refers to Intel's sixth-generation microarchitecture and x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors introduced on May 7, 1997....
, Pentium Pro
Pentium Pro

The Pentium Pro is a sixth-generation x86-based microprocessor developed and manufactured by Intel introduced in November 1995. It introduced the Intel P6 and was originally intended to replace the original Pentium in a full range of applications....
, Pentium
Pentium

Introduced on March 22, 1993, the original Pentium was the first superscalar x86 architecture microprocessor. Its fifth-generation x86 microarchitecture was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipeline s, a faster FPU unit, wider data bus, and features for further reduced address calculation latency....
, 80486
Intel 80486

The Intel i486, otherwise known as the 80486, was the first tightly pipeline x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit....
, 80386
Intel 80386

The Intel 80386, otherwise known as the i386 or just 386, is a microprocessor which has been used as the central processing unit of many personal computers and workstations since 1986....
, 80286
Intel 80286

The Intel 286, introduced on February 1, 1982, was an x86 16-bit microprocessor with 134,000 transistors.It was widely used in IBM PC compatible computers during the mid 1980s to early 1990s....
, 80186
Intel 80186

The 80186 is a microprocessor that was developed by Intel circa 1982. The 80186 was an improvement on the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. As with the 8086, it had a 16-bit external bus and was also available as the Intel 80188, with an 8-bit external data bus....
and 8086
Intel 8086

The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel and introduced on the market in 1978, which gave rise to the x86 architecture. Intel 8088, released in 1979, was essentially the same chip, but with an external 8-bit bus , and is notable as the processor used in the original IBM PC....
– are backward binary compatible with their predecessors, because they can execute machine code programs written for an earlier processor. (There are actually a few obscure exceptions to this.) These processors are not backward hardware compatible, because the later CPUs cannot replace the earlier ones in a CPU socket on a circuit board.
The Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive

The is a History of video game consoles video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. Mega Drive was the name used in Japan and Europe, while it was sold under the name Sega Genesis in North America, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region....
is not directly backward compatible with the Master System
Sega Master System

The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986 in video gaming....
, however, with the Power Base Adapter (a mostly passive device) it was able to play most Master System games, and Master System controllers can be used with the Mega Drive.
The Xbox 360
Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the History of video game consoles of video game consoles....
is backward compatible with some Xbox
Xbox

The Xbox is a History of video games video game console produced by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube....
games. This is achieved through emulation.
The Nintendo Wii
Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo. As a History of video game consoles console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3....
is backward compatible with all games from the previous Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
system, the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube

The , is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the History of video game consoles . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to Nintendo's Wii....
, due to it being based on the PowerPC
PowerPC

PowerPC is a RISC instruction set architecture created by the 1991 Apple Inc.?IBM?Motorola alliance, known as AIM alliance. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded system and high-performance processors....
, the same base as the latter. It is compatible with GameCube controllers and memory cards but not with other peripherals such as the Game Boy Player. Some games originally released for older consoles – the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
, SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a History of video game consoles video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993....
, Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64

The , often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America, March 1, 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1, 1997 in France and December 10, 1997 in Brazil....
, Sega Genesis, Turbografx 16 and Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)

The Neo Geo is a Cartridge -based Arcade game and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Playmore. The system offered comparatively colorful 2D computer graphics Computer graphics and high-quality sound....
– are available to play on the Wii via emulation, however the Wii cannot be said to be backward compatible with these systems as the software in its original format (i.e. cartridges) cannot be used.

Other examples of backward-compatible software

Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces ....
contains application compatibility shims to make the platform compatible with most software from earlier 32-bit and 16-bit versions (e.g. Civilization
Civilization (computer game)

Sid Meier's Civilization is a turn-based strategy Personal computer game created by Sid Meier for Microprose Software, Inc in 1991. The game's objective is "...to build an empire to stand the test of time"....
(circa 1991, designed for Windows 3.0
Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a powerful rival to Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front....
) running on Windows Vista). XP
Windows XP

Windows XP is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptop, and media centers....
, Vista
Windows Vista

Windows Vista is one member in a family of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business Desktop computer, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media center PCs....
and Server
Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 is a Server operating system produced by Microsoft. Introduced on 24 April 2003 as the successor to Windows 2000 Server, it is considered by Microsoft to be the cornerstone of its Windows Server System line of business server products....
x64 versions drop 16-bit support for reliability while maintaining 32-bit support. Windows versions at least until Vista also maintain the ability to run 16-bit DOS programs (with technical limitations which give rise to many exceptions) so Windows can be said to be backward-compatible with MS-DOS, its predecessor. (Windows versions before Windows 95 actually ran on top of and required DOS; Win 95 through Me incorporated their own versions of DOS.)
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is Microsoft's word processor computer software. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems....
2000 was backward compatible with Word 97 because it could read and write files in Word 97 format, with the understanding that features unique to Word 2000 would not appear in Word 97. The same applied to Word 2002 (the version of Word in Office XP) and Word 2003.
By adding the proper external hardware, many consoles can become backward compatible. This includes:

The Atari 5200
Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a replacement for the famous Atari 2600....
can play Atari 2600 games by adding the "Atari VCS Cartridge Adapter".
The ColecoVision
ColecoVision

The ColecoVision is Coleco' History of video game consoles home video game console and was released August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade game graphics and gaming style, the ability to play Atari 2600 video games, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware....
can play Atari 2600 games by adding the "Expansion Module #1".
The Intellivision
Intellivision

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600....
can play Atari 2600 games by adding the "System Changer".
Although the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive

The is a History of video game consoles video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. Mega Drive was the name used in Japan and Europe, while it was sold under the name Sega Genesis in North America, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region....
is backward compatible with the Sega Master System
Sega Master System

The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986 in video gaming....
, due to a different cartridge format games can not be played without adding a pass-through cart. The Mega Drive also supports Master System controllers.
The Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear

The Sega Game Gear is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
can play Sega Master System games by adding a "Master Gear
Master Gear

The Master Gear or Master Gear Converter is a device made by Sega for the Sega Game Gear which enables Sega Master System cartridge s to be played on a Game Gear....
".
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System can play games for the original Game Boy
Game Boy

The is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in August , and in Europe in ....
by adding a "Super Game Boy
Super Game Boy

The Super Game Boy is an adaptor cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan....
" cartridge
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System can play games for the Nintendo Entertainment System by adding a Super 8 (video game accessory)
Super 8 (video game accessory)

The Super 8 was an unlicensed peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console designed to allow the system to run games developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System ....
.
The Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64

The , often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America, March 1, 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1, 1997 in France and December 10, 1997 in Brazil....
can play games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System by adding a Tristar 64
Tristar 64

The Tristar 64 is an unlicensed add-on for the Nintendo 64 video game console. Produced in Hong Kong by Future Laboratory, the Tristar 64 features two additional Cartridge ports which are designed to accept cartridges created for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System ....
, although this add-on was not licenced by Nintendo.
The Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube

The , is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the History of video game consoles . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to Nintendo's Wii....
can play any existing game from the Game Boy
Game Boy

The is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in August , and in Europe in ....
line by adding a "Game Boy Player
Game Boy Player

The Game Boy Player is a device made by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube which enables Game Boy , Game Boy Color, or Game Boy Advance cartridge s to be played on a television....
" add-on and disc.

Several computer operating system
Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
s have various methods of running software originally designed for older versions or other OSes:

Windows NT
Windows NT

Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was originally designed to be a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix....
and successors have various subsystems to run legacy applications. MS-DOS
MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system commercialized by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems and was the main operating system for personal computers during the 1980s....
and Win16 subsystems (only on i386) can run some applications for those platforms, and it has an OS/2
OS/2

OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "IBM Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal computers....
subsystem for running CLI OS/2 applications.

Backward compatibility

Description

Compatibility checking

Examples

See also