← Back to context

Comment by dwaite

3 years ago

According to the Wikipedia link given, emulation is for host and target computer systems. In a computing context, 'emulate' is not a synonym for 'impersonate' - it describes an approach for a goal.

Wine does not aim to emulate a "Windows computer system" (aka a machine which booted into Windows). For instance, it doesn't allow one to run windows device drivers. WINE is taking an approach that ultimately means it is doing a subset of what is possible with full emulation (hopefully in return going much faster).

To put it another way, a mobile phone app with a HP49 interface that understands RPN is not necessarily a calculator emulator. It could just be an app that draws a calculator interface and understands RPN and some drawing commands. It doesn't necessarily have the capability to run firmwares or user binaries written for the Saturn processor.