Magic DosBox vs MS-DOS Player
Magic DosBox
magicbox.imejl.skMS-DOS Player
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Magic DosBox | MS-DOS Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · MS-DOS Emulators | 8.3 (#5) | 7.9 (#11) |
| Purpose | Magic DosBox is an optimized DOSBox port for Android that runs DOS games and applications and is designed for touch devices. | MS-DOS Player is a command-line MS-DOS emulator for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. |
Plans
In their own words
Magic DosBox
Magic DosBox emulates MS-DOS so users can play their own classic DOS games on Android phones and tablets; games are not included. Its on-screen widgets can send keys, emulate a mouse, pause a game, and perform other actions. Users can customize widget appearance, size, and position, then export or share game profiles and layouts. It also supports physical mice, Samsung styluses, external gamepads, keyboards, sound, IPX networking, and serial modem connections. Games can be configured through a simplified interface or Expert settings based on a modified DOSBox configuration. The app lists ISO, GOG, INST, and CUE files, and supports save states. Magic DosBox Lite is free, with three widgets and a limited number of games in the collection. The $3.99, paid once plan includes all widgets and removes the collection limit. The maker says Google Play's required storage access can be slower than direct access, while Android 11-based changes block mounting the storage root and Downloads folder.
MS-DOS Player
MS-DOS Player is a free command-line emulator for running 16-bit DOS-compatible commands in a Win32-x64 environment. It is aimed at text-mode utilities such as file converters, compilers, assemblers, debuggers and text editors. DOS programs inherit Windows environment variables and can access host file paths directly. The Windows archive provides binaries for emulating 8086, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium 4, NEC V30 and IA32 processors. Documented hardware includes up to 32 MB of RAM, LIM EMS, serial and parallel I/O, keyboard and mouse input, timers and text display. Virtual COM1–COM4 can connect to host COM ports, with a maximum baud rate of 9600 bps; parallel output is written to a timestamped .PRN file in TEMP. A 16-bit command file can also be embedded in a 32-bit or 64-bit executable that runs without msdos.exe. The project is a fork tuned for the ReC98 build process, and its source is available under GNU General Public License version 2.