{"slug": "86box", "name": "86Box", "category": "infra", "category_name": "Infrastructure and DevOps", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 8, "warners": 0, "score": 5.941, "rising": 0.69, "first": "2025-11-02", "latest": "2026-10-05", "why": "I love 86Box! I use it on my MacBook to run that sweet spot of Windows 95/98 games", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 9, "neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [1, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I love 86Box! I use it on my MacBook to run that sweet spot of Windows 95/98 games", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/86box/86box", "official_url": "https://86box.net", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["86Box", "86box"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 799382048, "item_id": 49961378, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49961378", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86Box running Windows 95 or Windows 98", "excerpt": "Looks good functionality wise, you can even \"compile\" an app to a HTML file. This is exactly how something like this should work :-). However, appearance-wise it looks very noisy/distorted with some crooked elements (especially window buttons) and missing visual parts (mainly bevel edges). I made a screenshot with comments for it[0]. I guess this was made with AI which isn't that great at making stuff pixel-level unl", "context": "", "use_case": "period-accurate screenshots", "switched_from": "", "story": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE"}, {"id": 797609744, "item_id": 49850609, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850609", "by": "sgerenser", "date": "2026-09-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "seems promising for anything that requires low level/cycle accurate emulation", "excerpt": "Does the idea make use of https://86box.net? Just heard of this recently on hn and it seems promising for anything that requires low level/cycle accurate emulation vs. your typical high level emulator.", "context": "", "use_case": "Cycle-accurate emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?"}, {"id": 773490576, "item_id": 48343161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48343161", "by": "chungy", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86Box is extremely good at running old operating systems", "excerpt": "Different use cases than QEMU, honestly, to the point that there's not much overlap. QEMU is extremely good at running modern operating systems, and not so much at older ones (DOS and Win9x are pretty sore points in QEMU). 86Box is extremely good at running old operating systems (including DOS and Win9x!), but modern operating systems are mostly out of the question (you can run WinXP, but https://86box.readthedocs.io", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "86Box v6.0"}, {"id": 773479728, "item_id": 48342483, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342483", "by": "sargstuff", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Now just needs an x86 simulator port.", "excerpt": "Now just needs an x86 simulator port.[0] [0] : https://86box.net/", "context": "", "use_case": "PC emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "A self-powered computer in actual credit-card size (~1mm thick)"}, {"id": 770321840, "item_id": 48145115, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48145115", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-05-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86box is a great option for old programs and games", "excerpt": "A lot of legacy applications will not work in Wine. 86box is a great option for old programs and games... no herculean porting efforts required. =3 https://github.com/86Box/86Box", "context": "", "use_case": "running old programs and games", "switched_from": "", "story": "Porting 3D Movie Maker to Linux"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 760969664, "item_id": 47560604, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47560604", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-03-28", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "86Box runs on modern MacOS, but is not very performant for games on ARM.", "excerpt": "86Box runs on modern MacOS, but is not very performant for games on ARM. https://github.com/86Box/86Box There are also patch sets available for modern PCs to support legacy MSDOS, and Windows 3.1/95/98/ME. Attempting to install/run on modern hardware will usually blue-screen without the workarounds. =3 https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenCiv1 \u2013 open-source rewrite of Civ1"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["period-accurate screenshots", "cycle-accurate emulation", "emulating nextstep systems", "pc emulation", "running old programs and games", "legacy windows xp emulation"], "compared": [{"slug": "windows-xp", "name": "Windows XP", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 785477505, "item_id": 49092344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49092344", "by": "itomato", "date": "2026-07-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "bringing support for machines like that and the Canon object.station into 86box is a pet project of mine", "excerpt": "One of the first things I did with ChatGPT was feed it source for the existing OHCI USB Host Adapter driver to make it work with more common UHCI hardware. There are many people working to extend NeXT, Openstep and even Rhapsody. Not to mention emulation projects and deep dives into XNU source, early Darwin source and shoehorning kernels and libraries into various places. The Epson NX was purpose-built to run NeXTSte", "context": "", "use_case": "emulating vintage PCs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Half-Life ported to Mac OS 9"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350477", "title": "86Box v5.3", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49956681", "title": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848955", "title": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686380", "title": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49089814", "title": "Half-Life ported to Mac OS 9", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48492366", "title": "Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-06": {"compare": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 799382048, "item_id": 49961378, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49961378", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86Box running Windows 95 or Windows 98", "excerpt": "Looks good functionality wise, you can even \"compile\" an app to a HTML file. This is exactly how something like this should work :-). However, appearance-wise it looks very noisy/distorted with some crooked elements (especially window buttons) and missing visual parts (mainly bevel edges). I made a screenshot with comments for it[0]. I guess this was made with AI which isn't that great at making stuff pixel-level unl", "context": "", "use_case": "period-accurate screenshots", "switched_from": "", "story": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE"}, {"id": 797609744, "item_id": 49850609, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49850609", "by": "sgerenser", "date": "2026-09-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "seems promising for anything that requires low level/cycle accurate emulation", "excerpt": "Does the idea make use of https://86box.net? Just heard of this recently on hn and it seems promising for anything that requires low level/cycle accurate emulation vs. your typical high level emulator.", "context": "", "use_case": "Cycle-accurate emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?"}, {"id": 795049297, "item_id": 49690581, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49690581", "by": "itomato", "date": "2026-09-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "a fork of 86box dedicated to NeXTstep systems", "excerpt": "I've been working on PCB generation projects with MCPs, mostly with KiCAD because of the ROI. - Flexible rp2040-based instrument tuner - Stratocaster-style PCB art pickguards - NeXTBus experimentation board (not that I'll ever use it, but I'll be darned if I don't understand the nuances between NeXT and Apple's NuBUS implementations better now) This extends to firmware and emulation projects like Doom and the Quake t", "context": "", "use_case": "Emulating NeXTSTEP systems", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)"}, {"id": 776475777, "item_id": 48529736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48529736", "by": "rvnx", "date": "2026-06-14", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "works the same way as 86box", "excerpt": "The official compatibility layer of Microsoft works the same way as 86box: https://betawiki.net/wiki/NTVDM There is no magic", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later"}, {"id": 773490576, "item_id": 48343161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48343161", "by": "chungy", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86Box is extremely good at running old operating systems", "excerpt": "Different use cases than QEMU, honestly, to the point that there's not much overlap. QEMU is extremely good at running modern operating systems, and not so much at older ones (DOS and Win9x are pretty sore points in QEMU). 86Box is extremely good at running old operating systems (including DOS and Win9x!), but modern operating systems are mostly out of the question (you can run WinXP, but https://86box.readthedocs.io", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "86Box v6.0"}, {"id": 773479728, "item_id": 48342483, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342483", "by": "sargstuff", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Now just needs an x86 simulator port.", "excerpt": "Now just needs an x86 simulator port.[0] [0] : https://86box.net/", "context": "", "use_case": "PC emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "A self-powered computer in actual credit-card size (~1mm thick)"}, {"id": 770321840, "item_id": 48145115, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48145115", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-05-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "86box is a great option for old programs and games", "excerpt": "A lot of legacy applications will not work in Wine. 86box is a great option for old programs and games... no herculean porting efforts required. =3 https://github.com/86Box/86Box", "context": "", "use_case": "running old programs and games", "switched_from": "", "story": "Porting 3D Movie Maker to Linux"}, {"id": 763763922, "item_id": 47735245, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47735245", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-04-11", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i was just in win xp 32bit sp2 few weeks ago using 86box", "excerpt": "> Has apple been a serious development platform in the last 20 years? i dont think anyone asks this question in good faith, so it may not even be worth answering. see: > I know a lot of devs like apple hardware because it is premium but OSX has always been \"almost linux\" controlled by a company that cares more about itunes then it does the people using their hardware to develop. yea fwiw macs own for multi-target dep", "context": "", "use_case": "Legacy Windows XP emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Silicon and Virtual Machines: Beating the 2 VM Limit"}, {"id": 763081024, "item_id": 47692564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47692564", "by": "trueno", "date": "2026-04-08", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "currently have a 32bit win xp env spun up in 86box", "excerpt": "i remember years and years ago learning some posix/shell syntax and working in terminal. felt like my love for windows unraveled in real time. these days using windows... feel like i gotta take a shower after. like many i was just raised on windows it was the household operating system i had like 20 years of general computer usage under my belt on windows before i finally felt a mac trackpad for the first time. that ", "context": "", "use_case": "running legacy Windows", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft Abruptly Terminates VeraCrypt Account, Halting Windows Updates"}, {"id": 760969664, "item_id": 47560604, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47560604", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-03-28", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "86Box runs on modern MacOS, but is not very performant for games on ARM.", "excerpt": "86Box runs on modern MacOS, but is not very performant for games on ARM. https://github.com/86Box/86Box There are also patch sets available for modern PCs to support legacy MSDOS, and Windows 3.1/95/98/ME. Attempting to install/run on modern hardware will usually blue-screen without the workarounds. =3 https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenCiv1 \u2013 open-source rewrite of Civ1"}, {"id": 748672144, "item_id": 46792009, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46792009", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-01-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://github.com/86Box/86Box/releases", "excerpt": "Apple has had some good chips, but is not a high priority for game developers. If you are on ARM, than the emulation performance hit will heavily limit what kind of games are playable. https://github.com/86Box/86Box/releases https://github.com/Moonif/MacBox/releases Note, Steam will also natively run on many Apple ARM systems now, but again the compatibility of game titles will be sparse. Have fun =3", "context": "", "use_case": "Emulating old PC hardware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Super Monkey Ball ported to a website"}, {"id": 746699474, "item_id": 46668717, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46668717", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-01-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "running an emulator on another architecture is a better solution", "excerpt": "A kvm hypervisor is not perfect, as sandbox escape was demonstrated even with https://qubes-os.org/ . On modern AMD/Intel/ARM64 consumer processors it is not possible to completely prevent bleeding keys across regions. Only the old Sun systems with hardware encrypted mmu pages could actually enforce context isolation. If performance is not important, and people are dealing with something particularly nasty... than ru", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Singularity Rootkit: SELinux bypass and netlink filter (ss/conntrack hidden)"}, {"id": 741718320, "item_id": 46357395, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357395", "by": "chungy", "date": "2025-12-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Give it a try :)", "excerpt": "Give it a try :) Exempting serious bugs (which have become rare), Slackware should install the same way as a real PC with the hardware configuration you select.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "86Box v5.3"}, {"id": 741717968, "item_id": 46357373, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357373", "by": "nihilist_t21", "date": "2025-12-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love 86Box! I use it on my MacBook to run that sweet spot of Windows 95/98 games", "excerpt": "I love 86Box! I use it on my MacBook to run that sweet spot of Windows 95/98 games that won't run in DosBox or a Win11 VM.", "context": "", "use_case": "run Windows 95/98 games", "switched_from": "", "story": "86Box v5.3"}, {"id": 732715936, "item_id": 45794746, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45794746", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2025-11-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "emulating old slow games can work", "excerpt": "If you have a MacOS ARM system, than emulating old slow games can work: https://github.com/86Box/86Box/releases For some, it is the only real legal option given windows 11 licensing. Apple M3/M4 are a great chip, but they EOL the hardware ecosystem every 12 years on average. Few companies can tolerate that level of development liability, and Apple users benefit from the FOSS ecosystems cross-platform efforts. =3", "context": "", "use_case": "running old PC games on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark"}]}