retrocomputing

Retrocomputing is the study, collection, and use of older computer hardware and software, with a focus on preservation and historical understanding. It covers mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and home computers from roughly the 1950s to the 1990s, along with the software, peripherals, and development environments that accompanied them.

Practices include restoring and operating vintage machines, archiving software and documentation, and researching the technical decisions of earlier systems. Emulation and virtualization are central to the field, allowing legacy software to run on modern systems. Popular tools include DOSBox for DOS, MAME for arcade and hardware emulation, and PCem or SimH for historical platforms; online archives and museums provide software images, manuals, and schematics.

Retrocomputing fosters education about computing history and the evolution of hardware and software design. It is supported by communities and institutions such as the Vintage Computer Federation, the Computer History Museum, and online resources like Old-Computers.com and Internet Archive's software collections.