Bochs For Mac

Bochs is an open source project developed in C++ that is designed to help you emulate an Intel x86 computer by proving a CPU simulation, support for common I/O devices, and a customized BIOS. The software is able to simulate a real machine, which means that you will be able to run popular x86 operating systems.

Currently, the Bochs project does not provide a binary for macOS : to be able to use the emulator, you need to download the source code archive and compile Bochs on your own. Start by opening the Bochs folder in your Terminal, and then follow three basic steps: configure, make, and make install.

Of course, Bochs provides customization options for the configuration step, and you can view all available possibilities by typing the “configure --help” command in your Terminal app. At the same time, to learn more about the entire process, you can access the online Bochs User Manual.

To get started, Bochs requires a system BIOS and a VGA BIOS to be able to initialize the machine: both these elements can be found in the Bochs software package.

The Bochs distribution also includes a sample bochsrc configuration file which you must edit to match your own settings: the bochsrc file helps the emulator know how it has to function, where to look for disk images, and more.

Bochs offers you the possibility to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows or Linux, right on your Mac. The application is able to simulate the machine entirely, includes support for standard peripherals, and provides both BIOS and VGA BIOS versions.

However, since Bochs does not come with a binary for macOS, both the installation and the configuration procedure can prove to be fairly challenging.