The XDOS binary code conversion system

The XDOS binary code conversion system takes the binary images of programs that were written to run on the IBM PC and converts them into programs that will run on a number of different computers that use the Unix operating system. The author discusses the use of automatic and human-aided conversion techniques, the techniques used to analyze programs, optimizations that are performed during conversion, run-time strategies, and the relative performance of converted code. It is shown that the XDOS binary code conversion system has proved to be an effective solution to the problem of running PC programs on Unix-based computers. It is able to produce converted applications that are well integrated into the Unix environment and that provide excellent performance in a multiuser environment.<>