# 86Box/86Box

Emulator of x86-based machines.

Repository: https://github.com/86Box/86Box
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/86box
Homepage: https://86box.net
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: emulator, pc-emulator, emulation, ibm, x86
Last push: 2026-08-26T16:42:34+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 74, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3721, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 94, "gap_med": 49.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4736, forks 570 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:57.710015+00:00)

## What it is
86Box is a low-level x86 emulator that accurately emulates IBM PC-compatible machines from 1981 through PCI-era systems, including CPUs, chipsets, video cards, sound cards, and other peripherals. It is a desktop application for running vintage operating systems and software such as MS-DOS, old Windows versions, OS/2, and classic Linux distributions.

## Use cases
- run MS-DOS and old Windows games on a modern PC
- emulate an IBM PC 5150 or PS/2 machine
- test vintage software like BeOS or NEXTSTEP
- build a configurable retro PC virtual machine
- emulate old sound cards and Roland MIDI synthesizers
- preserve and experience retro x86 computing

## When to choose
- you need accurate low-level emulation of 8086 through late-90s Pentium-era PCs
- you want fine-grained control over emulated hardware components and peripherals
- you want to run vintage operating systems and software for nostalgia or compatibility testing

## When to avoid
- you need to emulate modern x86-64 hardware or run recent operating systems at near-native speed
- you want a lightweight hypervisor for everyday virtualization workloads
- you need multi-threaded emulation performance on low-IPC CPUs

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, gui
- domain: simulation, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: x86-emulator, pc-emulator, retro-computing, vintage-computing, ibm-pc, dos, virtual-machine, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- 86Box/86Box (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.710015+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:18:59.259916+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/86Box/86Box (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.710015+00:00, sha 3e08d204d2c9)
  - homepage: https://86box.net (fetched 2026-08-29T09:02:31.450149+00:00, sha 796f3e842d21)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.