As the forerunner to the graphical user interfaces in Microsoft’s Windows platform, MS-DOS helped set the stage for the company’s dominance in the PC software market. When MS-DOS was released in 1981, ...

Linux is very good at running older software, but even the free and open-source operating system is stumped by the really ancient stuff developed for MS-DOS. Let’s go over how you can get ...

DOS is a command line interface that can be used as a standalone operating system or in conjunction with another operating system. The main function of DOS in modern operating systems is to run batch ...

In context: Back in 1980, Tim Paterson was creating a new operating system he called QDOS or Quick and Dirty Operating System. The system was later renamed 86-DOS, as it was being designed to run on ...

Nota bene: This is the concluding part of the surprisingly interesting history of the IBM PC. You should probably read part one of the story if you haven't already. In November 1979, Microsoft’s ...

Reader Steve P. sends in this question: “I’m running Windows 2000 and want to upgrade my system BIOS. The instructions say to create a bootable disk with the format a:/s command. However, the /s doesn ...

That iconic black screen and blinking cursor are no longer in active use, but they're hardly forgotten. It was 30 years ago today that Microsoft released DOS to the world, but the things that happened ...

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the original IBM PC is how Microsoft ended up with the contract for the operating system. This would eventually make Microsoft's MS-DOS the standard and set ...

If you are interested in taking a look at a 35-year-old computer operating system, when computers were equipped with around 4K of memory. You might be interested to know that the Computer History ...

Gary Kildall started Intergalactic Digital Research (later shortened to Digital Research or just DRI) and created the first microcomputer operating system, CP/M, used on many hobbyist personal ...