86Box6.0

86Box lets Mac users recreate x86-based PCs and run software made for IBM PC systems and compatibles. Based on PCem, it emulates 8086 processors through Pentium-class CPUs with attention to accuracy, while offering a hypervisor-inspired interface and configurable virtual machines.

It supports operating systems from MS-DOS and older Windows releases to OS/2, many Linux distributions, BeOS, and NEXTSTEP, covering machines from 1981 through relatively recent PCI-based designs. Virtual hardware can include video adapters, sound cards, network adapters, hard-disk controllers, and SCSI adapters. MIDI output can use Windows’ built-in MIDI support, FluidSynth, or emulated Roland synthesizers.

For managing several machines, companion options include Avalonia 86 for Windows and Linux, the cross-platform 86Box Manager X, Python-based command-line manager sl86, Linux-focused Linbox-qt5, and macOS-only MacBox for 86Box. Version 5 introduced a preview built-in manager; launching 86Box without command-line arguments opens it, while -P or --vmpath runs the emulator directly and -? displays help.

The macOS build requires macOS 10.14 Mojave or newer, a 64-bit Intel Core 2, AMD Athlon 64, or ARMv8-or-newer processor, and at least 4 GB of RAM, with Intel and Apple Silicon supported; published Windows hosts require Windows 7 SP1 or newer on Intel/AMD and Windows 11 or newer on ARM. Most emulation runs in one thread, so performance depends on the host and guest configuration and benefits from higher instructions-per-clock capacity. The current version is 6.0,9001; experimental builds follow newer source changes but may be less stable or slower, and 86Box is freeware released under the GNU General Public License.