Descended from Copilot, Palm OS Emulator is used for writing, testing, and debugging Palm OS applications. Palm OS Emulator emulates Motorola 68000-class devices and has intimate knowledge of Palm OS's inner working, allowing for the close monitoring of correct application operation. Unlike Xcopilot (another descendent of Copilot), Palm OS Emulator will not boot uClinux.
All versions of Palm OS Emulator require a file containing the ROM image to boot. ROM image files can be obtained from PalmSource (now part of Access Co., Ltd), or downloaded from a real Palm device.
Palm OS Emulator supports Palm OS 4.x and earlier. It cannot support Palm OS 5.x and later, as those versions are based on the ARM processor. PalmSource provides simulators for Palm OS 5.x and up, where the Palm OS has been recompiled to run natively under Windows.