A software emulator allows computer programs to run on a platform (computer architecture and/or operating system) other than the one for which they were originally written. Unlike a simulation, which only attempts to reproduce a program's behavior, an emulation attempts to precisely model the state of the device being emulated. A popular use of emulators is to mimic the experience of running arcade games or console games on Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Emulating these on modern desktop computers is usually less cumbe ...

Including:

• Emulator - Structure
• Emulator - Memory subsystem
• Emulator - CPU simulator
• Emulator - I/O

Read more here: » Emulator: Encyclopedia - Emulator

Most emulators just emulate a hardware architecture — if a specific operating system is required for the desired software, it must be provided as well (and may itself be emulated). Both the OS and the software will then be interpreted by the emulator, rather than being run by native hardware. Apart from this interpreter for the emulated machine's language, some other hardware (such as input or output devices) must be provided in virtual form as well: if writing to a specific memory location should influence the screen, for example, ...

See also:

Emulator, Emulator - Structure, Emulator - Memory subsystem, Emulator - CPU simulator, Emulator - I/O

Read more here: » Emulator: Encyclopedia II - Emulator - Structure