# openMSX Manuals

The openMSX documentation is split into a number of separate documents, each with their own purpose and intended audience.

Compilation Guide
  This guide describes how you can get the openMSX sources and compile them. If you downloaded a binary release, you can skip this.
Setup Guide
  This guide describes how you can configure openMSX to emulate actual MSX machines. It also describes how you can have openMSX start up with your personal settings, how you can configure openMSX and your system for optimal performance and several other configuration related topics.
User's Manual
  This manual describes all the things you can do with openMSX once it is fully running.
FAQ
  Answers some frequently asked questions. Of course you shouldn't have any, after reading the manuals...
Console Command Reference
  An overview of all commands and settings that can be used from the openMSX built in console. Check this if you want to know exactly how to control openMSX. If you can't find a feature in the GUI, it may not mean it's not there at all: perhaps we didn't have the GUI support it yet and is only be available via the console.
Using Diskmanipulator
  The `diskmanipulator` command is so powerful that we made a separate manual for it. Use it to create (hard)disk images, import files to them, export files from them, etc. However, using it via the GUI is probably easier, you can find it under Main menu bar → Tools → Disk Manipulator ....
Controlling openMSX from External Applications
  This is a guide for application developers who want to control openMSX from their own programs. Very useful if you're planning to make a launcher, GUI, debugger or another kind of external program that needs to control openMSX.

There is additional documentation for (would-be) developers in the `doc` directory in the openMSX code tree.

To the openMSX Home Page.