September 22, 1997: EM86 Beta 2 (v0.2) now available

Better Late Than Never: After much anticipation, EM86 Beta 2 is now available from ftp.digital.com. This updated release offers the following exciting new features:

• More system call coverage: all of the most commonly-used system calls are now supported. The ioctl() system call has been expanded to include more devices, including sound. RealAudio now works!
• Improved packaging: EM86 is now available as a set of rpm packages for easier, more robust installation. The x86 shared libraries are also broken out into subsets so one need only install those libraries required for one's application.
• Native shared library calls: Perhaps the most eagerly-awaited new feature, EM86 Beta 2 now includes the capability to redirect selected x86 shared library calls to the equivalent native Alpha calls, resulting in significant performance improvements. In this release, a selection of calls from the C runtime library (libc.so) is redirected. In future releases, additional libraries will be redirected for even greater performance.
• The bazaar is open! With this release, I am inviting the Linux community to contribute to the further development of EM86. The groundwork has been laid and there is much work to do, particularly in writing shared library thunks. For my part, I will be releasing patches much more often

April 4, 1997: EM86 Beta 1 (v0.1) released

April 4, 1997: The Linux/Alpha team at Digital Equipment Corporation today is releasing a developers' beta version of EM86, a Linux/x86 emulator for Linux/Alpha. Using components of the award-winning DIGITAL FX!32 technology, EM86 is a software emulator that enables Linux/Alpha systems to run Linux/x86 software without modification.

EM86 currently supports statically linked and dynamically linked x86 ELF32 binaries under Linux/Alpha. Future enhancements will include support for iBCS-2 compliant executables, improved emulator performance, and interoperation with native Alpha code. A release incorporating these features is anticipated in July, 1997.

We are releasing a beta version of EM86 at this time to provide Linux developers early access to the software, to aid in the verification of software packages, and to provide feedback and bug reports to the Linux/Alpha team.

EM86 has been tested on the following packages and appears to run them successfully:

• Netscape Navigator Gold 3.01
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0
• Red Baron web browser 3.00
• Applixware 4.2