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If I recall correctly, you can still switch the processor to 16-bit mode but virtual 8086 mode is not available from x86-64. So more recent 16-bit Windows appli
by makomk 9y ago
If I recall correctly, you can still switch the processor to 16-bit mode but virtual 8086 mode is not available from x86-64. So more recent 16-bit Windows applications can be made to work but DOS applications and older 16-bit Windows applications that rely on more legacy DOS-style APIs don't work.
- merb 9y agowell which is probably only possible if you don't run on efi only hardware. (no cs/m, which sometimes happens, especially on mac hardware)
- JdeBP 9y agoThe actual machine firmware has been irrelevant for v8086 ever since the time of OS/2 2.0 and DOS-Windows 3.1. Both used virtualized machine firmwares to run in the v8086 virtual machines. OS/2's was dealt with by a virtual device driver called VBIOS.SYS, for example.
- lloeki 9y agoThis is precisely why DOSBox took a significant performance hit when going from x86 to amd64 back in the day.
- JdeBP 9y agoThe "older 16-bit Windows applications" (actually a misnomer because there isn't this distinction in practice) actually used DPMI, which does not involve v8086 mode.