Emulator

An emulator is a virtual machine that provides a platform that programs written for a specific other computer or operating system may be run as well.

For example, an Atari ST emulator program running on a computer based on an Intel architecture might enable the owner of that computer to run programs intended for the Atari ST computer, reducing the need to own more than one kind of machine. Developers of software for [embedded system]?s or video game computers often design their software on especially accurate emulator called a simulator before trying it on the real hardware.

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External Links

Emulators exist for a large number of systems. Here are some links (should they be against the individual machine articles?)

Atari ST Emulator for the X Window System [1]