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Classic Computer Emulators

I love emulators and am in awe of the people who can write them. I've even been involved in beta testing one or two. Emulators give you a vintage machine in your own computer! While it's not quite the same as the real thing, they do have their uses. For example, you might want to:

  • Get a nostalgia fix (one of the main uses)
  • See what the interface of a classic machine looked like
  • Run some classic programs
  • Try out software before converting it for your real machine
  • Develop software for a classic machine (Easier to do this in an emulator than in a real classic computer)

Some can also be handy in converting software from disk/cassette images to a form where the programs can be loaded into your modern machines. Whatever you want to use them for, they can be a lot of fun and most are free.

My real collection of machines is mirrored with corresponding emulators. I use them mostly for conversion purposes along with the last two reasons cited above. Once a year or so, I scour the web and update all my emulators. Having just undertaken this task I figured the results might be useful to others. Consequently, the emulators I use are listed below. Before you jump into this list and download an emulator for your favourite machine though, note these caveats:

  • These are for Windows XP (and above). They may or may not work on earlier platforms.
  • They are not the only ones out there. They are just the ones I use.
  • Some are still supported and some are not.
  • Some come with ROMS and some do not. ROMS are not difficult to find on the Internet though.
  • By the time you read this it will already be out of date. Make sure you get the latest version from the websites listed.

Here they are...

Platform
Name
Notes
Apple II series AppleWin 1.20.1 Apple II+ and IIe also. Very good. Also supports the virtual Z80 card.
Apple Mac Softmac XP 8.2 Good but can be tricky to set up.
Atari 8-bits Atrari800 Win Plus 4.0 All the Atari 8-bit range including the 400, 800XL and 130XE. Very good.
Atari 16-bits Gemulator 9 All the Atari 16-bit range including the 520 and 1040ST.
BBC BeebEM 4.13 For the BBC class of Acorn computers. Comprehensive
Commodore 8-bits VICE 2.2 For the PET, VIC 20, C-64 and other Commodore computers. A superb emulator
Amiga 16-bits WinUAE 2.3.1 For the Amiga machines. Good - Somewhat confusing to configure.
CP/M 8-bits myZ80 1.23 For machines like the Osborne 1 and Kaypro II. May not work in Vista or above.
EACA Colour Genie Genieous 1.0.2 Very good. I helped test this one.
Exidy Sorcerer MESS 0.142 Multi system emulator which contains the Sorcerer.
Intel "PC-type" Computers Virtual PC 2007 From an IBM-PC to modern day. Mostly good but not for MS-DOS games
DOS-Box 0.74 Emulates an MS-DOS machine like a 486. .Great for MS-DOS games
Mattel Aquarius Virtual Aquarius 0.72a Simple but good
OSI Challenger WinOSI 1.0b For the Ohio Scientific Challenger range of machines . Good
Sinclair 8-bit EightyOne 1.0a For ZX80, ZX81 and all the ZX Spectrums
Sinclair QL QemuLator 3.0 Shareware. Great program. Easy to set up and run.
Spectravideo BlueMSX 2.8.2 For the Spectravideo machines and MSX units. Beautifully designed
System 80/Video Genie HT-1080Z 1.6.4 Also good for the TRS-80 Model 1
Tandy Colour Computer Xroar 0.24 Actually a Dragon emulator but with a CoCo ROM it becomes a CoCo!
TRS-80 Model 100 Virtual T 1.3 Very good. Also emulates the NEC 8201a
TRS-80 Model 1 TRS32 1.25 An emulator for the Model 1/III/4 and 4-P. Excellent emulator for this platform

The only one of my computers missing an emulator is the Epson HX-20. It may be getting there though.

Tez
24th June, 2011

Comments welcome...

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