MS-DOS

MS-DOS, short for Microsoft Disk Operating System, is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers from the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering a graphical user interface (GUI), in particular by various generations of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
MS-DOS is not that popular for the OS Mockup Community.
MS-DOS grew from a 1981 request by IBM for an operating system for its IBM PC range of personal computers. Microsoft quickly bought the rights to QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System), also known as 86-DOS, from Seattle Computer Products, and began work on modifying it to meet IBM's specifications. The first edition, MS-DOS 1.0, was launched in 1982. The version shipped with IBM's PCs was called PC DOS. Although MS-DOS and PC DOS were initially developed in parallel by Microsoft and IBM, the two products eventually went their separate ways.
During its life, several competing products were released for the x86 platform, and MS-DOS itself would go through eight versions, until development ceased in 2000. Ultimately, it was the key product in Microsoft's growth from a programming language company to a diverse software development firm, providing the company with essential revenue and marketing resources. It was also the underlying basic operating system on which early versions of Windows ran as a GUI.
== Versions ==
* MS-DOS 1.x
** Version 1.12 (OEM) - Compaq release of PC DOS 1.10
** Version 1.19 (OEM) - Zenith OEM
** Version 1.25 (OEM) - Microsoft repackaging of PC DOS 1.10
*MS-DOS 2.x - Support for 10 MB hard disk drives and tree-structure filing system
**Version 2.0 (OEM)
**Version 2.1 (OEM)
**Version 2.11 (OEM)
*MS-DOS 3.x
**Version 3.0 (OEM) - Support for FAT16
**Version 3.1 (OEM) - Support for Microsoft Networks
**Version 3.2 (OEM)
**Version 3.21 (OEM)
**Version 3.25 (OEM)
**Version 3.3 (OEM)
**Version 3.3a (OEM)
**Version 3.31 (OEM) - Compaq MS-DOS 3.31 supports FAT16B and larger drives.
*MS-DOS 4.x - includes a graphical/mouse interface.
**Version 4.00 (OEM)
**Version 4.01 (OEM) - IBM patched Version 4.00 before Microsoft released it. First version to introduce volume serial number when formatting hard disks and floppy disks (Disk duplication also)
**Version 4.01a (OEM)
*MS-DOS 5.x
**Version 5.0 (Retail) - includes a full-screen editor. A number of bugs required reissue.
**Version 5.0a (Retail) - With this release, IBM and Microsoft versions diverge.
**Version 5.0.500 (WinNT) - All Windows NT 32-bit versions ship with files from DOS 5.0
*MS-DOS 6.x
**Version 6.0 (Retail) - Online help through QBASIC. Disk compression and antivirus included.
**Version 6.1 (none) - IBM and Microsoft alternate DOS 6 versions. IBM released 6.3 also.
**Version 6.2 (Retail) - Scandisk as replacement for CHKDSK. Fix serious bugs in DBLSPACE.
**Version 6.21 (Retail) - Stacker-infringing DBLSPACE removed.
**Version 6.22 (Retail) - New DRVSPACE compression.
The MS-DOS 1.x to 6.x series ended support on December 31, 2001
*MS-DOS 7.x
**Version 7.0 (Win95, 95A) - Support for VFAT long file names. New editor. JO.SYS is an alternative filename of the IO.SYS kernel file and used as such for "special purposes". JO.SYS allows booting from CD-ROM to hard disk.
**Version 7.1 (Win95B - Win98SE) - Support for FAT32 file system. Last general purpose DOS to load Windows.
*MS-DOS 8.0
**Version 8.0 (WinME) - Integrated drivers for faster Windows loading. Four different kernels (IO.SYS) observed.
**Version 8.0 (WinXP) - DOS boot disks created by XP and later contain files from WinME. The internal command prompt still reports version 5.0
The MS-DOS 7.x series & 8.0 ended support on July 11, 2006
== Mockup OSes ==
* 64-DOS
* WinDOS
* GMMDOS
* Heavy PilotDOS
* HP-DOS
== Windows OS' That used MS DOS ==
# Windows 1 
# Windows 2 
# Windows 2.1
# Windows 3
# Windows 3.1
# Windows 3.1 for Workgroups
# Windows 3.11 for Workgroups
# Windows 3.11
# Windows 3.2
# Windows 95
# Windows 98
# Windows ME
Category:Real operating system
Category:MS-DOS based OS