Bochs

Bochs is a portable open-source x86 PC emulator written in C++. It emulates a complete IBM PC-compatible system, including the x86 CPU, memory, BIOS, and a range of I/O devices. The emulator models components such as VGA display, IDE hard drives and CD-ROMs, PCI buses, and various other peripherals, allowing operating systems to boot and run as if on real hardware.

Bochs runs on multiple host platforms, including Linux, macOS, Windows, and other Unix-like systems. It supports a wide range of guest operating systems, such as DOS, Windows, Linux, and other x86-based OSes. The project is widely used for operating system development, hardware-software debugging, and education because it provides a configurable, sandboxed environment for testing kernel code, drivers, and boot sequences.

Control of Bochs is primarily via a textual configuration file called bochsrc, though the package also includes a built-in debugger and optional graphical front ends. Users can customize the emulated hardware, boot order, and device set to replicate specific hardware environments or test scenarios without risking host systems.

Bochs is free and open-source software maintained by a community of volunteers. It remains a long-running reference platform for OS development and teaching, complementing other emulators and virtualization tools by offering detailed hardware modeling and a transparent debugging workflow.