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Requirements

Introduction

WinUAE runs on any reasonably current Windows PC:

  • Windows 7 or newer, 32-bit or 64-bit (64-bit is recommended)
  • A CPU with SSE2 support

Memory is rarely a concern: the emulated Amiga needs only as much RAM as you configure for it. Accurate emulation, especially cycle-exact A1200 or other AGA setups, depends heavily on single-core performance, so a fast modern CPU gives the best results. On weaker machines, using the JIT compiler will help with performance.

WinUAE 4.2.1 was the last version to support Windows XP SP3 (32-bit only). Users of older Windows versions have to stay with even older WinUAE releases.

Emulation Requirements

WinUAE requires some Amiga software in order to work properly. This software is not included for legal reasons:

  • A copy of a Kickstart ROM. Sometimes referred to as a ROM-image, ROM-file, KickFile, or KickROM - has to be loaded by WinUAE on startup, just like a real Amiga would. It can be extracted from an original Amiga with the transrom. Alternatively, a legal copy can be obtained with the Amiga Forever software package. Kickstarts are supplied on the Amiga Forever CD in \Emulation\shared\ROM. If you have the Amiga Classix CD, you can find a Kickstart version 1.3 ROM file on it.
  • The Workbench, which is the Amiga's user interface to manage files and start applications, in other terms AmigaOS.
    Workbench disks can be transferred to the ADF file-format used by WinUAE by running the included transdisk utility. Also, a legal copy of various AmigaOS releases can be found in the Amiga Forever software package.
    A larger set of Workbench disks (up to 3.1) can be found on the Amiga Forever CD in \Emulation\shared\ADF and a full Workbench directory hard disk set up in \Emulation\shared\dir.
    Workbench or AmigaOS 3.5 or 3.9 CDs can be purchased from any Amiga dealer and can be read directly on the PC by WinUAE.

If you have everything you need, continue with the GUI to configure WinUAE. If the setup of the program is complete and the emulation is working, please refer to Emulation for information on how to get the most out of WinUAE.

NOTE: Neither WinUAE itself nor this help will point you at illegal content sites, nor will you be provided with copyrighted material by any of the involved people.