{"slug": "dosbox-x", "name": "DOSBox-X", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 3.869, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-02-19", "latest": "2026-09-13", "why": "DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 5, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "dosbox-x.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://dosbox-x.com/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["DOSBox-X"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 794959152, "item_id": 49684947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49684947", "by": "orionblastar", "date": "2026-09-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is easier to run them in DOSBOX-X than vibe code them.", "excerpt": "It is easier to run them in DOSBOX-X than vibe code them.", "context": "", "use_case": "running 80s word processors", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Why haven't people vibe coded popular 80s word processors as TUI apps?"}, {"id": 773774208, "item_id": 48360888, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48360888", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "runs natively and works great for everything I've thrown at it", "excerpt": "At least the ARM-based binary of DosBox-X (a variant of DosBox) runs natively and works great for everything I've thrown at it like old Apogee games, etc. https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS emulation on Apple Silicon", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs"}, {"id": 773737618, "item_id": 48358601, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48358601", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "DOSBox-X has a GUI to setup options while the emulator is running which is very convenient.", "excerpt": "Last time i checked (and DOSBox hasn't made an official release since then) the vanilla DOSBox isn't able to run the game i made for an MS-DOS game jam a few years ago[0] because it doesn't implement RDTSC properly (that the game uses for timing). All currently developed DOSBox forks work properly. Also the forks add some additional niceties, e.g. DOSBox Staging has some very nice CRT filters that basically make game", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs"}, {"id": 753194528, "item_id": 47074658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074658", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs.", "excerpt": "Why would you use an LLM to build a game that already exists? DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs. https://dosbox-x.com", "context": "", "use_case": "playing DOS games on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Play your favorite DOS retro games on mac"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["running 80s word processors", "dos emulation on apple silicon", "dos emulator", "running dos 1-2-3", "playing dos games on mac"], "compared": [{"slug": "freedos", "name": "FreeDOS", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "dosbox", "name": "DOSBox", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "dosbox-staging", "name": "DOSBox Staging", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48356603", "title": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49684729", "title": "Ask HN: Why haven't people vibe coded popular 80s word processors as TUI apps?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618147", "title": "\"Boing \" in 64 Bytes", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48253060", "title": "wake up! 16b", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47926480", "title": "L123: A Lotus 1-2-3\u2013style terminal spreadsheet with modern Excel compatibility", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47892291", "title": "SDL Now Supports DOS", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 794959152, "item_id": 49684947, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49684947", "by": "orionblastar", "date": "2026-09-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is easier to run them in DOSBOX-X than vibe code them.", "excerpt": "It is easier to run them in DOSBOX-X than vibe code them.", "context": "", "use_case": "running 80s word processors", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Why haven't people vibe coded popular 80s word processors as TUI apps?"}, {"id": 777890368, "item_id": 48618148, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48618148", "by": "HellMood", "date": "2026-06-21", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For 486, no FPU, for MsDos FreeDos, WinXP Dos, DosBox-X", "excerpt": "For 486, no FPU, for MsDos FreeDos, WinXP Dos, DosBox-X ... i made that rather in a hurry, so right now i have a version without background but wall bouncing like the original. But since the competition is already over, i will tinker a bit to make it perfect :) the blank code for everbody who can read it ^^ you can paste it to http://twt86.co/ to run in a browser org 100h mov al,0x13 les bp,[bx] int 0x10 X: sub dh,95", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "\"Boing \" in 64 Bytes"}, {"id": 773774208, "item_id": 48360888, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48360888", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "runs natively and works great for everything I've thrown at it", "excerpt": "At least the ARM-based binary of DosBox-X (a variant of DosBox) runs natively and works great for everything I've thrown at it like old Apogee games, etc. https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS emulation on Apple Silicon", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs"}, {"id": 773737618, "item_id": 48358601, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48358601", "by": "badsectoracula", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "DOSBox-X has a GUI to setup options while the emulator is running which is very convenient.", "excerpt": "Last time i checked (and DOSBox hasn't made an official release since then) the vanilla DOSBox isn't able to run the game i made for an MS-DOS game jam a few years ago[0] because it doesn't implement RDTSC properly (that the game uses for timing). All currently developed DOSBox forks work properly. Also the forks add some additional niceties, e.g. DOSBox Staging has some very nice CRT filters that basically make game", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs"}, {"id": 773713617, "item_id": 48357101, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48357101", "by": "haunter", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the three most popular one would be DOSBox-X, DOSBox Pure, and DOSBox Staging", "excerpt": ">install DOSBox for Mac Mind you there are countless DOSBox forks out there and the vanilla original one is probably the least interesting one. Nowadays the three most popular one would be DOSBox-X, DOSBox Pure, and DOSBox Staging https://dosbox-x.com/ https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x https://schelling.itch.io/dosbox-pure https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure-unleashed/ https://www.dosbox-staging.org/ h", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows GOG DOS Games on M-Series Macs"}, {"id": 772258288, "item_id": 48266143, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266143", "by": "HellMood", "date": "2026-05-25", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Use the provided config from here https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=106210 Edit: for Dosbox X", "excerpt": "It requires specific graphics card setup ( it simulates an old system) Use the provided config from here https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=106210 Edit: for Dosbox X", "context": "", "use_case": "DOS emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "wake up! 16b"}, {"id": 768060401, "item_id": 48003775, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48003775", "by": "duane1024", "date": "2026-05-03", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've been running the DOS version in DosBox-X for Mac", "excerpt": "I love your pages, they are really great, especially the one about reverse engineering the display driver to discover that 1-2-3 actually supports better display resolutions. I've been running the DOS version in DosBox-X for Mac at the moment to ground l123 in the reality of what using 1-2-3 was like. I'm using Release 3.4a, which was the last version that didn't go full GUI (R4 for DOS was kind of a Windows-light ve", "context": "", "use_case": "running DOS 1-2-3", "switched_from": "", "story": "L123: A Lotus 1-2-3\u2013style terminal spreadsheet with modern Excel compatibility"}, {"id": 766562912, "item_id": 47910182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47910182", "by": "1313ed01", "date": "2026-04-26", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "DOSBox-X has DOS as one of its supported host platforms", "excerpt": "DOSBox-X has DOS as one of its supported host platforms (using HX-DOS that a sibling comment mentioned): https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x#dosbox-x-supported-platforms-and-releases", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "SDL Now Supports DOS"}, {"id": 753194528, "item_id": 47074658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074658", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs.", "excerpt": "Why would you use an LLM to build a game that already exists? DosBox-X works perfectly for old retro games (Commander Keen, Dangerous Dave, etc) and runs on Macs. https://dosbox-x.com", "context": "", "use_case": "playing DOS games on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Play your favorite DOS retro games on mac"}]}