<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
emulator	B-Application
which	O
runs	O
software	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Device
compatible	I-Device
disk	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
—	O
primarily	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
when	O
DOS	B-Device
technology	O
was	O
becoming	O
obsolete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
adoption	O
for	O
running	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
is	O
widespread	O
,	O
with	O
it	O
being	O
used	O
in	O
commercial	O
re-releases	O
of	O
those	O
games	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
consumer-oriented	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
3.0	I-Application
and	O
its	O
updates	O
were	O
operating	B-Application
environments	I-Application
that	O
ran	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Windows	O
9x	O
series	O
consisted	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
that	O
were	O
still	O
based	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
could	O
run	O
DOS	B-Device
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conversely	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
were	O
not	O
based	O
on	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
member	O
of	O
the	O
series	O
is	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
which	O
debuted	O
on	O
October	O
25	O
,	O
2001	O
,	O
to	O
become	O
the	O
first	O
consumer-oriented	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	O
to	O
not	O
use	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
could	O
emulate	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
run	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
applications	O
,	O
as	O
those	O
applications	O
ran	O
only	O
in	O
real	B-Application
mode	I-Application
to	O
directly	O
access	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
hardware	O
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
's	O
protected	B-Application
mode	I-Application
prevented	O
such	O
direct	O
access	O
for	O
security	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MS-DOS	B-Application
continued	O
to	O
receive	O
support	O
until	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2001	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
support	O
for	O
any	O
DOS-based	O
Windows	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
ended	O
on	O
July	O
11	O
,	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
DOSBox	B-Application
began	O
around	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
—	O
a	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
system	O
—	O
when	O
its	O
creators	O
,	O
Dutch	O
programmers	O
Peter	O
Veenstra	O
and	O
Sjoerd	O
van	O
der	O
Berg	O
,	O
discovered	O
that	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
had	O
dropped	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
support	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
first	O
uploaded	O
to	O
SourceForge	B-Application
and	O
released	O
for	O
beta	O
testing	O
on	O
July	O
22	O
,	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
program	I-Application
,	O
configured	O
either	O
by	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
command-line	B-Application
arguments	O
or	O
by	O
editing	O
a	O
plain	O
text	O
configuration	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
,	O
several	O
graphical	O
front	B-Architecture
ends	I-Architecture
have	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
DOSBox	B-Application
project	O
hopes	O
that	O
one	O
day	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
will	O
run	O
all	O
programs	O
ever	O
made	O
for	O
the	O
PC	O
,	O
the	O
goal	O
is	O
not	O
yet	O
reached	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
of	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
the	O
primary	O
focus	O
has	O
been	O
on	O
DOS	B-Device
gaming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basic	O
version	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
long	O
filenames	O
,	O
most	O
versions	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
do	O
not	O
support	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
filenames	O
must	O
follow	O
the	O
8.3	O
name.extension	O
pattern	O
:	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
8	O
characters	O
for	O
the	O
name	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
3	O
characters	O
for	O
the	O
extension	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
versions	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
DOSBox	B-Application
website	O
that	O
support	O
long	O
filenames	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
possible	O
incompatibility	O
with	O
some	O
older	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
focus	O
of	O
the	O
vanilla	O
version	O
is	O
on	O
gaming	O
,	O
and	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
support	O
for	O
Ctrl-Break	B-Device
may	O
be	O
missing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
alternative	O
versions	O
support	O
features	O
not	O
present	O
in	O
the	O
vanilla	O
version	O
such	O
as	O
APM	B-Device
power	O
off	O
,	O
direct	O
parallel	O
port	O
passthrough	O
for	O
printing	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
East	O
Asian	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
DOSBox	B-Application
accesses	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
's	O
file	O
system	O
,	O
there	O
thus	O
is	O
a	O
risk	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
malware	O
exploiting	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
's	O
security	O
vulnerabilities	O
and	O
causing	O
damage	O
to	O
the	O
host	O
machine	O
,	O
although	O
these	O
vulnerabilities	O
continue	O
to	O
be	O
patched	O
with	O
new	O
DOSBox	B-Application
updates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
also	O
capture	O
screenshots	O
and	O
record	O
videos	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
sessions	O
,	O
although	O
a	O
codec	B-General_Concept
is	O
required	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
videos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
full-system	O
emulator	B-Application
that	O
provides	O
BIOS	B-Device
interrupts	I-Device
and	O
contains	O
its	O
own	O
internal	O
DOS-like	O
shell	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
means	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
without	O
owning	O
a	O
license	O
to	O
any	O
real	O
DOS	B-Device
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
commands	O
that	O
are	O
found	O
in	O
COMMAND.COM	B-Operating_System
are	O
supported	O
,	O
but	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
advanced	O
commands	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
latest	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
versions	O
are	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
its	O
internal	O
shell	B-Operating_System
,	O
it	O
also	O
supports	O
running	O
image	O
files	O
of	O
games	O
and	O
software	O
originally	O
intended	O
to	O
start	O
without	O
any	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
emulating	B-Application
DOS	B-Device
,	O
users	O
can	O
also	O
run	O
Windows	B-Application
3.0	I-Application
and	O
applications	O
designed	O
for	O
it	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
within	O
the	O
Windows	O
9x	O
family	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
DOSBox	B-Application
application	O
is	O
opened	O
,	O
it	O
automatically	O
mounts	B-Application
to	O
a	O
virtual	O
,	O
permanent	O
Z	O
:	O
drive	O
that	O
stores	O
DOSBox	B-Application
commands	O
and	O
utilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reasons	O
for	O
the	O
virtual	O
drive	O
are	O
related	O
to	O
security	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
user	O
can	O
mount	O
a	O
different	O
drive	O
letter	O
in	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
to	O
a	O
directory	O
,	O
image	O
file	O
,	O
floppy	O
disk	O
drive	O
,	O
or	O
CD-ROM	O
drive	O
on	O
the	O
host	O
to	O
access	O
its	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
configuration	O
file	O
and	O
its	O
AUTOEXEC	O
section	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
respectively	O
configure	O
DOSBox	B-Application
settings	O
and	O
execute	O
DOS	B-Device
commands	O
at	O
startup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
is	O
capable	O
of	O
running	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
that	O
require	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
to	O
be	O
in	O
real	B-Application
mode	I-Application
or	O
protected	B-Application
mode	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
DOSBox	B-Application
can	O
emulate	O
its	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
by	O
interpretation	O
,	O
the	O
environment	O
it	O
emulates	B-Application
is	O
completely	O
independent	O
of	O
the	O
host	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
systems	O
which	O
provide	O
the	O
x86	O
,	O
ARM	B-Architecture
,	O
or	O
other	O
RISC	B-Architecture
instruction	I-Architecture
sets	I-Architecture
,	O
however	O
,	O
DOSBox	B-Application
can	O
use	O
dynamic	O
instruction	O
translation	O
to	O
accelerate	O
execution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
emulated	B-Application
CPU	B-General_Concept
speed	O
of	O
DOSBox	B-Application
is	O
also	O
manually	O
adjustable	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
accommodate	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
systems	O
for	O
which	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
were	O
originally	O
written	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
Simple	B-Operating_System
DirectMedia	I-Operating_System
Layer	I-Operating_System
external	O
library	O
to	O
handle	O
graphics	O
,	O
audio	O
,	O
and	O
input	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Graphically	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
use	O
the	O
DirectDraw	B-Device
or	O
OpenGL	B-Application
APIs	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
can	O
also	O
use	O
bilinear	O
interpolation	O
and	O
scale	O
graphics	O
for	O
computers	O
with	O
modern	O
displays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Graphical	O
emulation	B-Application
includes	O
text	B-Device
mode	I-Device
,	O
Hercules	B-Device
,	O
CGA	B-Device
,	O
EGA	B-Device
,	O
VGA	B-Protocol
,	O
VESA	B-Device
,	O
S3	B-Device
Trio	I-Device
64	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Tandy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sound	O
emulation	B-Application
includes	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
speaker	I-Device
,	O
AdLib	O
,	O
Gravis	B-Application
Ultrasound	I-Application
,	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
,	O
Disney	O
Sound	O
Source	O
,	O
Tandy	O
,	O
and	O
MPU-401	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
because	O
DOSBox	B-Application
does	O
not	O
come	O
packaged	O
with	O
Gravis	B-Application
Ultrasound	I-Application
drivers	O
,	O
they	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
installed	O
separately	O
for	O
full	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
can	O
simulate	O
serial	O
null	O
modems	O
using	O
the	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
and	O
IPX	B-Protocol
network	O
tunneling	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
multiplayer	O
games	O
using	O
one	O
of	O
them	O
to	O
be	O
played	O
over	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
or	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
simulate	O
the	O
PC	B-Protocol
joystick	I-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
,	O
with	O
limited	O
options	O
being	O
to	O
emulate	O
one	O
joystick	B-Device
with	O
four	O
axes	O
and	O
four	O
buttons	O
;	O
one	O
gamepad	B-Device
with	O
two	O
axes	O
and	O
six	O
buttons	O
;	O
two	O
joysticks	B-Device
each	O
with	O
two	O
axes	O
and	O
two	O
buttons	O
;	O
a	O
Thrustmaster	B-Device
Flight	O
Control	O
System	O
joystick	B-Device
that	O
has	O
three	O
axes	O
,	O
four	O
buttons	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
hat	O
switch	O
;	O
and	O
a	O
CH	O
Flightstick	B-Device
with	O
four	O
axes	O
,	O
six	O
buttons	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
pressed	O
only	O
one	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
hat	O
switch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newer	O
joysticks	B-Device
and	O
gamepads	B-Device
will	O
need	O
to	O
use	O
one	O
of	O
these	O
configurations	O
to	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
has	O
become	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
for	O
running	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rock	O
,	O
Paper	O
,	O
Shotgun	O
positively	O
remarked	O
on	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
continual	O
reception	O
of	O
updates	O
,	O
its	O
influence	O
on	O
PC	O
gaming	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
front	B-Architecture
ends	I-Architecture
designed	O
to	O
facilitate	O
using	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Freelance	O
writer	O
Michael	O
Reed	O
lauded	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
scaled	O
graphics	O
and	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
overall	O
focus	O
on	O
compatibility	O
and	O
accurate	O
emulation	B-Application
,	O
but	O
criticized	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
both	O
save	O
states	O
and	O
user-friendly	O
control	O
over	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
during	O
runtime	O
,	O
even	O
with	O
the	O
front	B-Architecture
ends	I-Architecture
available	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
his	O
review	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
was	O
named	O
SourceForge	B-Application
's	O
Project	O
of	O
the	O
Month	O
in	O
May	O
2009	O
and	O
again	O
in	O
January	O
2013	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
the	O
first	O
project	O
in	O
the	O
website	O
's	O
history	O
to	O
receive	O
two	O
Project	O
of	O
the	O
Month	O
awards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
SourceForge	B-Application
website	O
,	O
it	O
reached	O
10	O
million	O
downloads	O
on	O
July	O
21	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
downloaded	O
more	O
than	O
25	O
million	O
times	O
as	O
of	O
October	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
January	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
the	O
Wine	B-Application
compatibility	I-Application
layer	I-Application
have	O
integrated	O
DOSBox	B-Application
into	O
Wine	B-Application
to	O
facilitate	O
running	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
supported	O
natively	O
by	O
the	O
Wine	B-Application
Virtual	O
DOS	B-Device
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
January	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
Internet	O
Archive	O
has	O
added	O
thousands	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
to	O
its	O
software	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
library	O
contained	O
6,934	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Em-DOSBox	O
,	O
uses	O
Emscripten	B-Language
to	O
convert	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
's	O
C++	B-Language
code	I-Language
to	O
JavaScript	B-Language
,	O
making	O
the	O
games	O
playable	O
on	O
a	O
web	O
browser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox-X	O
aims	O
to	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
all	O
pre-2000	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
Windows	O
9x	O
based	O
hardware	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dosbox	B-Application
Staging	O
aims	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
modern	O
continuation	O
of	O
DOSBox	B-Application
;	O
with	O
modern	O
coding	O
practices	O
and	O
advanced	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
Pure	O
is	O
a	O
libretro	O
core	O
that	O
implements	O
DOSBox	B-Application
,	O
with	O
some	O
additional	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
state	O
saving	O
and	O
rewind	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOSBox	B-Application
has	O
also	O
been	O
both	O
the	O
most	O
used	O
DOS	B-Device
emulator	B-Application
and	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
straightforward	O
process	O
of	O
making	O
the	O
games	O
work	O
on	O
modern	O
computers	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
emulation	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
developers	O
re-releasing	O
legacy	O
versions	O
of	O
their	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
id	O
Software	O
has	O
used	O
DOSBox	B-Application
to	O
re-release	O
vintage	O
games	O
such	O
as	O
Wolfenstein	B-Application
3D	I-Application
and	O
Commander	B-Application
Keen	I-Application
on	O
Valve	O
's	O
Steam	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
process	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
reported	O
they	O
violated	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
license	O
,	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
GPL	I-License
;	O
the	O
breach	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
reported	O
as	O
an	O
oversight	O
,	O
was	O
promptly	O
resolved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Activision	O
Blizzard	O
has	O
also	O
used	O
it	O
to	O
re-release	O
Sierra	O
Entertainment	O
's	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LucasArts	O
used	O
it	O
to	O
rerelease	O
Star	B-Application
Wars	I-Application
:	I-Application
Dark	I-Application
Forces	I-Application
and	O
Star	B-Application
Wars	I-Application
:	I-Application
TIE	I-Application
Fighter	I-Application
for	O
modern	O
machines	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
and	O
GOG.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2K	O
Games	O
producer	O
Jason	O
Bergman	O
stated	O
the	O
company	O
used	O
DOSBox	B-Application
for	O
Steam	B-Application
rereleases	O
of	O
certain	O
installments	O
of	O
the	O
XCOM	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bethesda	O
Softworks	O
has	O
recommended	O
DOSBox	B-Application
and	O
provided	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
the	O
DOSBox	B-Application
website	O
on	O
the	O
downloads	O
page	O
for	O
The	B-Application
Elder	I-Application
Scrolls	I-Application
:	I-Application
Arena	I-Application
and	O
The	B-Application
Elder	I-Application
Scrolls	I-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
Daggerfall	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
included	O
DOSBox	B-Application
with	O
both	O
games	O
in	O
The	O
Elder	O
Scrolls	O
Anthology	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electronic	O
Arts	O
 '	O
Origin	B-Operating_System
client	O
uses	O
DOSBox	B-Application
for	O
the	O
platform	O
's	O
DOS	B-Device
games	O
,	O
including	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
titles	O
such	O
as	O
Syndicate	B-Application
and	O
SimCity	B-Application
2000	I-Application
.	O
</s>
