Web-Browsers as a VM or Game Emulator

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DevynCJohnson

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Firefox and Chromium are not just web-browsers, but they can also be used as gaming systems or virtual machines. Yes, you can run operating systems within a web-browser.

Games


To install a Firefox game, go to the add-ons manager and search for "games". Install the desired games by clicking "Install". Restart Firefox after installing the desired games. Once Firefox is back up, you will notice that some extra buttons appear in the menu bar or extra entries in the "Tools" menu. Click and icon to reveal a list of games. Most of these games are online-games and the Firefox addons that you installed act like special plugins for accessing or using the game.

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The same concept works with Chromium. Go to the Chrome Web Store and click the "Games" category. Install the desired games. You may need a Google account to install addons.

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There are some special websites that have game emulators that run in the browser. nesbox.com is a great example. NESbox supports Super-Nintendo (SNES), Nintendo (NES), and Sega Mega Drive.

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For those of you that like GameBoy Advanced games (GBA), there is http://www.gbafun.com/ and http://www.playr.org/games. Game-oldies.com supports various game emulators. Many of you may be wondering if "saved games" are supported. Yes, many (if not all) of these sites allow users to save the status/state of their game if the user obtains a user account. People may play for free without an account, but for extended features, users may want to sign up for an account. However, please read all user agreements before registering on any site.

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Operating Systems


To run various versions of Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac systems, go here (http://www.virtualdesktop.org/). This website offers Windows 95 up to Windows XP. As for Mac systems, the site provides Macintosh OS 8.6 and 9.2 and OS X 10.2 and 10.4.

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Many of you may think this is awesome, but I will tell you the trick to this virtualization. What you are seeing is not the real OS. Rather, a re-write made in JavaScript. If you dabble a bit with the virtual OS, you will notice that some of the features and button do not work. Some of the menus are just static images.

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You may find PC DOS 5 on this site (http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ibmpc-games/) to be amusing. Not only can users see what DOS was like, but this DOS system has a few games preloaded, like Sid Meier's Civilization.

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Then, there is an emulator for Mac 7 (http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/pce-js-apps/), Windows 3 (http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ibmpc-win/), Mac6 (http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/system6/), and Amiga 500 (http://pnacl-amiga-emulator.appspot.com/). Some of which have games.

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NOTE: The Amiga 500 emulator only works in Google-Chrome (not Chromium).

Webtops


You may be disappointed that the above mentioned virtual operating systems are mere emulators of the "real" system. There are operating systems that you can run in the browser for real. Such operating systems are called "webtops". These are operating systems that are executed in a web-browser and they usually come from a remote server. Some webtops and their web-addresses are listed below (if available). If you wish to use a webtop, you typically need to register for an account on the desired website.

Cloudo (http://www.cloudo.com/)

Cornelis OS (http://www.cornelios.org/) - Cornelis OS is an open-source webtop that can be installed on LAMP servers.

EyeOS (http://www.eyeos.com/) - EyeOS is written in JavaScript, XML, and PHP. A "Professional Edition" exists which offers more features and abilities.

ISpaces (http://www.ispaces.com)

JoliCloud - JoliCloud is Joli OS in the form of a webtop. Unfortunately, Joli OS is being discontinued.

The Place A (http://www.theplacea.com/) - This webtop allows users to try out the system before registering for an account.

VirtualOS (https://www.virtualos.eu/)

ZeroPC (http://www.zeropc.com/) - ZeroPC is compatible with most browsers. The system is written in HTML5, Javascript, and AJAX.

NOTE: A LAMP server is a Linux server with Apache, MySQL, and Perl installed (Linux/Apache/MySQL/Perl).


Linux gamers may like this guide/index for further reading - http://www.linux.org/threads/linux-gaming-reading-guide.6116/
 

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Excellent incite as always!!! I never knew about emulators on a browser! I never get the chance to reply to master com geniuses as you. I bow my head in a technical bow. I always find your input as informative and a must plus!
 
Excellent incite as always!!! I never knew about emulators on a browser! I never get the chance to reply to master com geniuses as you. I bow my head in a technical bow. I always find your input as informative and a must plus!

Thanks you very much for the compliment. I love to have readers like you.

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