# bochs-emu/Bochs

Bochs - Cross Platform x86 Emulator Project

Repository: https://github.com/bochs-emu/Bochs
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bochs
Homepage: https://bochs.sourceforge.io/
Language: C++
License: LGPL-2.1
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-08-26T04:03:10+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 67, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1469, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 10, "gap_med": 552, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1351, forks 184 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:28.153899+00:00)

## What it is
Bochs is a portable open-source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator written in C++ that emulates the CPU, common I/O devices, and a custom BIOS. Unlike virtualization software, it interprets every instruction, providing accurate, deterministic emulation of x86 machines on any host architecture.

## Use cases
- run old Windows or DOS software on Linux
- emulate an x86 PC on ARM or MIPS hardware
- develop and debug an operating system or bootloader
- reverse-engineer system-level x86 code
- run legacy mission-critical software in an accurate environment
- test software against pre-release x86-64 CPUs

## When to choose
- you need accurate, deterministic x86 emulation rather than fast virtualization
- your host machine is not x86 (e.g. ARM or MIPS)
- you are developing an OS or bootloader and need instruction-level control
- you need to run very old or mission-critical legacy software

## When to avoid
- you need near-native performance for everyday VMs - use VirtualBox, QEMU/KVM, or VMware instead
- you want a polished desktop virtualization user experience
- you need to emulate non-x86 guest architectures

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, developer-tools, reverse-engineering
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp
- tags: x86-emulator, pc-emulation, virtualization-alternative, ia-32, bios-emulation, os-development, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- bochs-emu/Bochs (main) score 88

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:28.153899+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 2026-08-30T04:42:12.671593+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/bochs-emu/Bochs (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:28.153899+00:00, sha 51d80da506a1)
  - homepage: https://bochs.sourceforge.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:00:51.997368+00:00, sha 3cf8bfe1b09b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.