# sarah-walker-pcem/pcem

PCem

Repository: https://github.com/sarah-walker-pcem/pcem
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pcem
Homepage: http://pcem-emulator.co.uk
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-07-28T11:09:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2265, "days_push": 36, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1933, forks 248 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:56.357106+00:00)

## What it is
PCem is an emulator that reproduces classic IBM PC-compatible hardware, allowing users to run old operating systems and software on modern machines. It is written in C, licensed under GPL-2.0, and builds on Windows, Linux, and BSD with SDL2, wxWidgets or Qt, and optional networking and plugin support.

## Use cases
- emulate old PCs to run DOS and Windows 9x software
- play retro PC games that no longer run on modern hardware
- test legacy software in a faithful period-accurate environment
- set up a virtual retro machine with emulated network cards
- experiment with different emulated CPU, video, and sound card configurations

## When to choose
- you need accurate emulation of vintage x86 PC hardware rather than a fast modern VM
- you want to run old operating systems and games that depend on specific legacy devices
- you want an open-source, cross-platform retro PC emulator with networking and plugin options

## When to avoid
- you need to run modern x86 operating systems at near-native speed (use VirtualBox, QEMU, or VMware)
- you want a plug-and-play experience with no ROM hunting, since PCem ships no copyrighted BIOS ROMs
- you only need DOS emulation and prefer a simpler frontend like DOSBox

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, gui
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform, gaming-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp
- tags: pc-emulator, x86-emulation, retro-computing, dos-emulator, sdl2, wxwidgets, qt, emulation, linux

## Member repositories
- sarah-walker-pcem/pcem (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:56.357106+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 2026-08-30T03:08:34.722957+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/sarah-walker-pcem/pcem (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:56.357106+00:00, sha 04930d965df9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.