Emu-OS

Pros

• Runs straight from any USB stick
• Supports many different systems
• Restarts fresh every single time

Cons

• Requires users to restart PC to boot into the emuOS environment
• Makes you reformat USB sticks to use it

The emuOS platform is a full operating system in a single ISO file that lets you reboot your PC into an emulator-friendly environment. It should work with most x86 and x86_64 computers that are capable of using their legacy bootstrap code. While this might require disabling the secure boot function on some computers, the effect might be worth it for those technically inclined gamers who can afford to take the security risk.

While this might be a big technical leap that may involve more work than some gamers might be used to, the result is the ability to play nearly any title made for the MS-DOS platform. That means you can play classics like Doom, Raptor and One Must Fall without needing any retro hardware. The environment also lets players start up games designed to work with Windows 95 and 98, which run inside of a desktop that takes advantage of Linux's WINE tools.

For many people, that alone would be more than enough to give emuOS a try. However, it also comes with tools that let gamers play Famicom and Super Famicom titles as long as they have the ROMs for them. The emuOS desktop has links for an emulator that can load up original PlayStation games too, though these more than likely have to be stored as paired BIN/CUE documents. Assuming that isn't an issue, this means that it's relatively easy to use emuOS to play games from across many eras. Avid collectors of ROMs will find that they can search through any directory they have them stored in to find games that they want to play. There's no restrictions on ROM organization like there might be with a flash cart.

All it takes to get started with emuOS is a single USB flash drive or even a T-Flash card. Writing the ISO to a piece of raw media should only take a few minutes, though it will delete everything on it so making backups is very important if there's anything on a flash storage device that's worth keeping. Once the ISO is fully copied over to the USB drive or flash card, it should be possible to reboot your PC selecting this media as a main drive.

Users of Linux shouldn't have any difficulties getting around the emuOS environment. Since it's geared toward gamers who are mostly used to working with Microsoft Windows, they tried to tailor the desktop to look like this environment so even those who don't have a background in the Unix world shouldn't run into too many difficulties. Since it's a full OS environment as well as a collection of emulators, gamers might want to use emuOS to solve problems on PCs that aren't booting right.

Pros

• Runs straight from any USB stick
• Supports many different systems
• Restarts fresh every single time

Cons

• Requires users to restart PC to boot into the emuOS environment
• Makes you reformat USB sticks to use it