Whats an emulator?

[WYSIWUG]

I hope this thread is in the right place...


What is an emulator, what does it do and how is it used?


Thanks Cyberville

 

[Hameister]

Actually this thread should be moved to Software...

An emulator is simply software that allows you to emulate a different environment.

For instance.....let's say you wanted to play the classic game "Wolfenstien 3D".

It will not run in Win7, because it was designed for DOS 6.22, so you use emulation software that will make it think it's in a DOS environment, so it will run.

I know this answer is much over simplified, but I think that's what you were looking for.

 

[WYSIWUG]

I understood it, so thanks a bunch.

So it makes a program think it is in an environment that it wants to be in but really isn't.

Fa out, I must be living in the before times LOL.

 

[MMM]

Also emulation allows one Vendors OS software to work on a different Vendors OS such as an old Amiga program to work on MS windows OS.

 

[strollin]

An emulator can be software based, hardware based or a combination of both. The key is that it is trying to act as if it is actually whatever it is emulating. If you install the software DOSBox, an x86 emulator with DOS then it will attempt to emulate a DOS environment in such a way that programs are fooled into believing they are actually running on a DOS machine.

 

[1337G33k]

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates (or emulates) the functions of a first computer system (the guest) in a different second computer system (the host), so that the emulated behavior closely resembles the behavior of the real system. This focus on exact reproduction of behavior is in contrast to some other forms of computer simulation, in which an abstract model of a system is being simulated. For example, a computer simulation of a hurricane or a chemical reaction is not emulation.
First, you need to download the emulator from the internet. You can search Google for different emulators

 

[jmacavali]

You can also get emulators for Nintendo/Game Boy/Super Nintendo/Sega/Etc and assuming you own the games can download them and play them on your computer.