Honestly, when it comes to emulating serial ports on modern machines—especially if you’re running Windows—you’re not exactly swimming in flawless options. @mikeappsreviewer mentioned one tool that “just works” (that’s rare, man), but I’ve gotta throw in another contender: have you checked out Virtual Serial Port Driver? It’s kind of a staple for people in device communication testing. Big plus is, it’s pretty user-friendly and doesn’t yank your system into the registry abyss like some of the other, uh, “budget” alternatives.
But since you brought up Mac too, here’s where things get weirder. MacOS doesn’t really have an A-list contender for serial port emulation like Windows does. You’re mostly left with command-line tools fun times like ‘socat’—which is super flexible if you’re not allergic to Terminal. It lets you bridge processes, connect hardware, whatever, but be ready to trade GUIs for man pages. Not for the faint of heart, but for smaller tasks and dev stuff, it actually does the job.
Honestly, though, the whole “free” route is a hotbed for trial-and-error pain (been there, owning way too many USB-to-RS232 dongles with flashing mystery driver lights). Sometimes, paying a bit for something like Virtual Serial Port Driver saves hours of yelling at your monitor when random drivers brick your device manager listings.
So, on Windows, give Virtual Serial Port Driver a whirl if you haven’t already—tons of devs dig it for industrial control, legacy software, and other ancient tech rituals. For Mac, unless your app somehow works with network socket emulation or you’re cool with DIY, it’s pretty much hacking solutions together with tools like ‘socat.’
If you’re curious about the one Mike likes, give it a spin: check out this trusted virtual COM port emulator, which seems to work for quite a few people on the first go. But honestly, in 2024, legacy serial emulation is always at least a little bit like rolling dice—try a couple, keep the one that doesn’t break your stuff, and backup early and often.
