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Bochs
 
 
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Bochs is a portable x86 and x86-64
X86-64

x86-64 is a superset of the x86. x86-64 Central processing units can run existing 32-bit or 16-bit x86 programs at full speed, but also support new programs written with a 64-bit address space and other additional capabilities....
 IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM Personal Computer XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT....
 emulator
Emulator

An emulator duplicates the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like the first system. This focus on exact reproduction of external behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, which can concern an abstract model of the system being simulated....
 and debugger
Debugger

A debugger is a computer program that is used to test and debug other programs. The code to be examined might alternatively be running on an Instruction Set Simulator, a technique that allows great power in its ability to halt when specific conditions are encountered but which will typically be much slower than executing the code directly on...
 mostly written in C++
C++

C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level programming language and low-level programming language language features....
 and distributed as free software
Free software

Free Software or software libre 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 minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and to prevent consumer-facing hardware...
 under GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License

The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License....
. It supports emulation of the processor(s) (including protected mode
Protected mode

In computing, protected mode, also called protected virtual address mode, is an operational mode of x86-compatible central processing units ....
), memory, disks, display, Ethernet
Ethernet

Ethernet is a family of Data frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks . The name comes from the physical concept of the Luminiferous aether....
, BIOS
BIOS

In computing, the Basic Input/Output System , also known as the System BIOS, is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface for IBM PC Compatible computers....
 and common hardware peripherals of PCs
IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM Personal Computer XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT....
.

Many guest 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 can be run using the emulator including DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
, several versions of 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 ....
, BSDs, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
, AmigaOS
AmigaOS

AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000....
, Rhapsody and MorphOS
MorphOS

MorphOS is a computer operating system . It is a mixed proprietary software and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC -processor-based computer, most models of PPC-accelerator-equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi Firmware, including the EFIKA and mobileGT....
. Bochs can run on many host operating systems, like 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 ....
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile is a compact operating system combined with a suite of basic applications for mobile devices based on the Microsoft Windows API application programming interface....
, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
 and Mac OS X
Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems....
.

Bochs is mostly used for operating system development (when an emulated operating system crashes
Crash (computing)

A crash or in computing is a condition where a program stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system....
, it does not crash the host operating system, so the emulated OS can be debugged
Debugging

Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of computer bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected....
) and to run other guest operating systems inside already running host operating systems. It can also be used to run older software – such as PC games – which will not run on non-compatible, or too fast computers.

Use
Bochs can emulate the hardware needed by the guest operating system, including hard drives, CD drives, and floppy drives.






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Encyclopedia


Bochs is a portable x86 and x86-64
X86-64

x86-64 is a superset of the x86. x86-64 Central processing units can run existing 32-bit or 16-bit x86 programs at full speed, but also support new programs written with a 64-bit address space and other additional capabilities....
 IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM Personal Computer XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT....
 emulator
Emulator

An emulator duplicates the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like the first system. This focus on exact reproduction of external behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, which can concern an abstract model of the system being simulated....
 and debugger
Debugger

A debugger is a computer program that is used to test and debug other programs. The code to be examined might alternatively be running on an Instruction Set Simulator, a technique that allows great power in its ability to halt when specific conditions are encountered but which will typically be much slower than executing the code directly on...
 mostly written in C++
C++

C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level programming language and low-level programming language language features....
 and distributed as free software
Free software

Free Software or software libre 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 minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and to prevent consumer-facing hardware...
 under GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License

The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License....
. It supports emulation of the processor(s) (including protected mode
Protected mode

In computing, protected mode, also called protected virtual address mode, is an operational mode of x86-compatible central processing units ....
), memory, disks, display, Ethernet
Ethernet

Ethernet is a family of Data frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks . The name comes from the physical concept of the Luminiferous aether....
, BIOS
BIOS

In computing, the Basic Input/Output System , also known as the System BIOS, is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface for IBM PC Compatible computers....
 and common hardware peripherals of PCs
IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM Personal Computer XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT....
.

Many guest 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 can be run using the emulator including DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
, several versions of 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 ....
, BSDs, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
, AmigaOS
AmigaOS

AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000....
, Rhapsody and MorphOS
MorphOS

MorphOS is a computer operating system . It is a mixed proprietary software and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC -processor-based computer, most models of PPC-accelerator-equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi Firmware, including the EFIKA and mobileGT....
. Bochs can run on many host operating systems, like 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 ....
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile is a compact operating system combined with a suite of basic applications for mobile devices based on the Microsoft Windows API application programming interface....
, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
 and Mac OS X
Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems....
.

Bochs is mostly used for operating system development (when an emulated operating system crashes
Crash (computing)

A crash or in computing is a condition where a program stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system....
, it does not crash the host operating system, so the emulated OS can be debugged
Debugging

Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of computer bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected....
) and to run other guest operating systems inside already running host operating systems. It can also be used to run older software – such as PC games – which will not run on non-compatible, or too fast computers.

Use


Bochs can emulate the hardware needed by the guest operating system, including hard drives, CD drives, and floppy drives. Disk and ISO images can be "inserted" while the system is being run. However, the system performance is very slow because it is only emulated. It doesn't provide any CPU virtualization
Virtualization

In computing, platform virtualization is a virtualization of computers or operating systems. It hides the physical characteristics of computing platform from the users, instead showing another abstract, emulated computing platform....
 features. However, it is useful for capturing screen shots in researching old DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
 software. Bochs is widely used for hobbyist OS developing, as it saves the need for constant system restarts (to test code). Bochs is also convenient for OS developers because it has error reporting and dump files that other emulators may lack.

History


Bochs started as a program with a commercial license, at the price of $25, for use as-is. If a user needed to link it to other software, that user would have to negotiate a special license. That changed in 22 March 2000, when Mandrakesoft (now Mandriva
Mandriva

Mandriva S.A. is a publicly traded Linux and open source software company with its headquarters in Paris, France and development center in Curitiba, Brazil....
) bought it and released it for Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
 under the GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License

The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License....
.

See also


  • Comparison of platform virtual machines
  • DLX Linux
    DLX Linux

    DLX Linux is a Linux distribution made by Erich Boehm, and it is given in Bochs.ReferencesExternal links*...
  • QEMU
    QEMU

    QEMU is a central processing unit emulator that relies on dynamic binary translation to achieve a reasonable speed while being easy to port on new host CPU architectures....


External links

  • discussion of BOCHS running under Windows CE]