QEMU for Windows

8.2.0 Virtual machine emulator for Windows

Felix Cheng

Allows users to emulate different operating systems and architectures on a PC for testing and development purposes.

Free and open source processor emulation software download, reviewed by Felix Cheng
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An emulator for various CPUs that supports virtualization.

As virtualization software, QEMU is certainly a contender for one of the fastest.

The application can emulate operating systems under Windows such as Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X and others while not bogging down the system in many cases.

QEMU enables cross-compilation and debugging on foreign operating systems right from the Windows desktop without the need of special software.

QEMU supports the emulation of different processors and emulations and performs well with both 32-bit and 64-bit systems including older and outdated processors like the IBM PowerPC that Apple used to deploy extensively. It also supports ARM processors that are common in some brands of mobile devices.

Usage of QEMU and success among different hardware setups varies but emulation of most optical drives is support as are USB devices.

Features of QEMU for Windows

  • Full system emulation: In this mode, QEMU emulates a full system (for example a PC), including one or several processors and various peripherals. It can be used to launch different Operating Systems without rebooting the PC or to debug system code.
  • User mode emulation: In this mode, QEMU can launch processes compiled for one CPU on another CPU. It can be used to launch the Wine Windows API emulator or to ease cross-compilation and cross-debugging.

Compatibility and License

QEMU for Windows is available for free and released under the open source GPLv2 license on Windows from PC utilities. The license provides the options to freely download, install, run and share this program without any restrictions. The source code for QEMU for Windows should be freely available and modifications are certainly permitted as well as the option to inspect the software.

What version of Windows can QEMU for Windows run on?

QEMU for Windows can be used on a computer running Windows 11 or Windows 10. Previous versions of the OS shouldn't be a problem with Windows 8 and Windows 7 having been tested. It comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit downloads.

Other operating systems: The latest QEMU for Windows version from 2024 is also available for Mac.

Filed under:
  1. QEMU for Windows Download
  2. Free Computer Utilities
  3. Open source and GPL software
  4. Processor Emulation Software
QEMU for Windows has been picked by our editors as very good.
QEMU for Windows has been tested for viruses and malware.
We have tested QEMU for Windows 8.2.0 against malware with several different programs. We certify that this program is clean of viruses, malware and trojans.