Virtualization of features present on a general-purpose computing device in order to expand the use of a fixed-function device, such as a game console, into a general-purpose application platform. Hardware capabilities are virtualized in order to run a general-purpose operating system on a fixed-function device that typically lacks physical implementations of those hardware capabilities. The operating system runs using the virtualized capabilities, and existing applications are run in the environment provided by the operating system. Thus, a fixed-function device can be used to run ordinary, existing application software.