This article details versions of
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
,
IBM PC DOS, and at least partially
compatible disk operating systems. It does not include the many other
operating systems called "DOS" which are unrelated to
IBM PC compatibles.
Historical and licensing information
Originally MS-DOS was designed to be an operating system that could run on ''any'' computer with a
8086-family microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
. It competed with other
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
s written for such computers, such as
CP/M-86 and
UCSD Pascal
UCSD Pascal is a Pascal programming language system that runs on the UCSD p-System, a portable, highly machine-independent operating system. UCSD Pascal was first released in 1977. It was developed at the University of California, San Diego (UC ...
. Each computer would have its own distinct hardware and its own version of MS-DOS, a situation similar to the one that existed for
CP/M
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...
, with MS-DOS emulating the
same solution as CP/M to adapt for different hardware platforms. So there were many different
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) versions of ''MS-DOS'' for different hardware. But the greater speed attainable by direct control of hardware was of particular importance, especially when running computer games. So very soon an IBM-compatible architecture became the goal, and before long all 8086-family computers
closely emulated IBM hardware, and only a single version of MS-DOS for a fixed hardware platform was all that was needed for the market. This specific version of MS-DOS is the version that is discussed here, as all other versions of MS-DOS died out with their respective systems. One version of such a ''generic MS-DOS'' (Z-DOS) is mentioned here, but there were dozens more. All these were for personal computers that used an 8086-family microprocessor, but which were not fully
IBM PC compatible.
Technical specifications
See also
*
Timeline of DOS operating systems
*
OS/2
OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...
*
List of operating systems
*
Comparison of Linux distributions
Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, includi ...
*
Comparison of operating systems
References
External links
Detailed timeline of DOS variantsDR-DOS version dates
{{Disk operating systems
Comparison of DOS
DOS