FreeDOS 1.0 review
DownloadFreeDOS aims to be a complete, free, 100% MS-DOS compatible operating system
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FreeDOS aims to be a complete, free, 100% MS-DOS compatible operating system. Mostly achieved except Windows compatibility - Windows standard-mode works on FreeDOS, but 386-mode / WfW 3.11 does not.
Here are some key features of "FreeDOS":
Easy multiboot with Win95-2003 and NT/XP/ME
FAT32 file system and large disk support (LBA)
LFN support (on command line with 4DOS, which is now freeware: 4DOS for OS/2 is even open source)
LBACACHE - disk cache (harddisks in CHS and LBA mode, diskette)
Memory Managers: HIMEM, EMM386, UMBPCI
SHSUCDX (MSCDEX replacement) and CD-ROM driver (XCDROM)
CUTEMOUSE - Mouse driver with scroll wheel support
FDAPM - APM info/control/suspend/poweroff, ACPI throttle, HLT energy saving...
XDMA - UDMA driver for DOS: up to 4 harddisks
MPXPLAY - media player for mp3, ogg, wmv... with built-in AC97 and SB16 drivers
7ZIP, INFO-ZIP zip & unzip... - modern archivers are available for DOS
EDIT / SETEDIT - multi window text editors
HTMLHELP - help viewer, can read help directly from a zip file
PG - powerful text viewer (similar to V. D. Buerg's LIST)
many text mode programs ported from Linux thanks to DJGPP
GRAPHICS - greyscale hardcopy on ESC/P, HP PCL and PostScript printers
FreeDOS was previously known as "Free-DOS" and originally as "PD-DOS." For a little trip down memory lane: In 1994, I was a physics student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Most of my work for school had been done using DOS - writing programs, dialing up to the university computer, network, analysing lab data, etc. I really loved DOS; I did everything with it. I had a '386 desktop system in my dorm room and an XT laptop that I would carry around with me to do work "on the go".
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