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Why You Should Use DOS
release 3
by Burnin' of UNKNOWN Prez
Oct 16th, 2001
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Introduction
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Most people have heard of DOS. And most people don't use it. And that's
INSANE, because DOS simply RULES!!!
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The misinformation
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One of the reasons why people don't use DOS nowadays is because they have a
certain image of it: hard-to-use--commandline-only--has-no-software--needs-
too-much-intention--crashes-all-the-time--SIMPLY-TOO-DAMN-DIFFICULT. That
image is completely wrong and this chapter is meant to clear up the
misinformation.
--EEK!--WROOONG!-- In case you don't know: DOS is probably the shell-
richest OS there is. There are user interfaces from primitive text mode
shells which only show directory listing to very complicated SVGA shells
which aren't usable without a mouse. And one other thing (if you don't know
it yet): until 1995 MicroPlot (in English: Microsoft Corp.) Windows was
nothing more than a DOS shell (advanced, 32bit, with it's own file formats,
but still just a shell). Try to remember, when was the last time you actually
saw somebody working with a DOS command prompt on a regular basis (and I'm
talking about actual "every day" usage here and not about attempts to
recover from a HD crash or viral attack)? Well, can you remember? Thought so,
you can't! That's simply because nobody uses the command prompt anymore,
there's no need for that
- You can do nothing in DOS
I once asked MiKE The Hacker to name ONE thing that can be done in
Windodgeball95+ and can't be done in DOS. He failed. That of course doesn't
mean that everything's possible under DOS, but the "can't do" list is
quite limited:
- video recording/editing
the reason for the non-existence of this kind of software is very simple:
as such software is run on a PC only by home users (professionals do such
stuff on powerful workstations under *NIX systems) and because by the time
PCs got powerful enough for this task there already was Windgoes (a
"userfriendly" shell specially for home users) then the DOS market didn't
promise enough profit.
- watching full-length movies
several DOS viewers support VideoCD but you usually won't get far with
those 600MB movie files you can find on the Net. But that mostly applies
to MPEGs, AVIs can be shown without problems. And the latest versions of
QuickView Pro (NOT the Wincrash toy) support (atleast partly) the new and
favored DivX;-) decoder.
- watching RealVideo
the Real software appeared after release of WWin955555..error_loading so
no wonder that the company behind the technology didn't want to bother
with a DOS version. But you can get the source code and binaries of a DOS
RealSound player from iNet.
- get MP3s with Napster
I'm not completely sure that there're no DOS clients for Napster or any of
it's clone-networks, but I haven't stumbled onto any yet. But Napster is a
relatively new technology, so who says it's going to stay that way?
- running Java applications
the most used programs of this kind are Java based chatrooms on the iNet.
The main problem is that JVMs (Java Virtual Machine, basically a whole
operating system that runs the Java program) need quite a lot of resources
and DOS, as you should know, ain't mostly run on very powerful systems.
While there exist some JVMs for DOS (for example Zhaba) they aren't widely
available and are still under development. But that's actually not such a
big problem, because many Java chatrooms are simply "shells" for IRC
channels so it would be possible to use them from the webbrowser. And IRC
clients for DOS are nothing new.
- run Windoom programs
THE ultimate thing missing in DOS. But who wants to run Wipingyourhd9x
programs when he/she has DOS programs which can do exactly the same?
Well, that's about it. Maybe there are one or two more things but I can't
remember any. All the usual stuff that one uses his/her computer for like
listening to music, working with a wordprocessor/spreadsheet/database, surfing
in Net, painting, looking through the JPEG collection, writing e-mail, etc.,
etc., etc. and also somewhat more advanced stuff like CAD, writing CD-Rs,
etc., etc. can be done in DOS
Most DOSs have been around for ages (MS- and PC-DOS for example) so most
of their bugs have been fixed and so a crash is (probably) not the OS'
fault. What crashes all the time are actually user programs. The reason
for this is that programmers often don't have enough knowledge to predict
the one or other bug and/or don't test the software throughly enough. But
that is the fault of the coder and not the OS. As Winmurder is a
'controlling' OS then small errors which under DOS would (probably) cause
a hang have no "effect" under it. But Winbelton is relatively new and that
means it's relatively buggy so every program (even the bug free ones) still
can crash. And there's always the problem of the simplicity: because
Windude is a very complicated piece of code then there might be
incompatibilities between software one couldn't ever imagine. And DOS, unlike
Wannabe9x, has MANY crash recovery programs, of which some only consume as
little as 400 bytes memory.
- Only one program can run at a time
There are at least two different DOS distributions which have built in
multitasking features. To be honest then I'ven't succeeded in obtaining these
DOSs. But I do have one which has support for multitasking and can perform
this if a special TSR is loaded. And several shells like DESQView and SEAL
can perform task switching which from the viewpoint of a user is almost the
same as multitasking
- No support for documents made under Widiot
Several advanced viewing programs which can handle Word/WordPerfect/etc.
files are available. They are usually shareware thus you have to pay for
them, but that's still A LOT cheaper than buying M$ cOffice. And there
are also a couple of programs for editing the documents
- There is no office-software for DOS
Yes there is: NewDeal Office or M$ Works for example
- DOS is limited to 8.3 characters filename
That's not true. First there're some DOSs which support LFNs (DR-DOS has
a special TSR for that and RxDOS has LFN support built-in) and for second
it's possible to use the commandline LFNTOOLS (or something similar) or
resident tools like DosLfn which use Winburns LFNs. By LFNTOOLS you are tied
to this particular utilities, but in case 1 or DosLfn you can use a file
manager which can handle LFNs (CONNECT, DN-OSP, VC 5.x etc.)
- DOS needs too much intention
Another wrong assumption. Actually DOS is a lot easier to maintain. For
starters we don't have that 'stores stuff in several directories' "feature"
which many WinNose programs have. DOS programs usually have all their files
in one (the main executable's) directory. Second is the registry problem. As
DOS doesn't have such a thing (ok, AUTOEXEC.BAT/CONFIG.SYS can be looked at
as registry) then we don't have to worry about it getting messed up. Another
good thing is that most DOS programs ask if the user is OK with changing the
startup files (very few Winston9x/ME/2000/NT applications do that). And the
only thing that is changed is usually the PATH. The un-installation is also
easier because one can simply delete the un-needed lines by him/herself (DOS
startup files are small textfiles so there's no problem with looking them
through). By many Waste9x applications the installation is necessary for the
correct and full working of the program so it's not possible to just copy
them to HD and run. Another point for DOS is that basically the only
shared-between-different-software parts are DOS extenders like DOS/4GW. So
the well known WheallyIll9x problem "missing DLLs" simply doesn't exist.
- DOS is simply tooooo difficult
Can you use a text editor? Can you boot your computer? Can you read? Yes?
Then you can install new software. The only significant difference from
amousecollectioncalledWindows is that instead of putting little birdies
into small boxes you write/change lines in(to) configuration files (although
newer programs allow you to change the behavior of the program through
"making birdies"). And installing is the only thing that's different.
Using some application is exactly as by Winoise. And you don't think it's
difficult there
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The advantages
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Of course, DOS has several advantages when compared to Winkwink, it doesn't
rule just like that without any reason :)
- Smaller hardware requirements
From my own experience I can say that Win<puke>95 won't run well unless you
have a Pentium. You probably don't know that because everything runs well
on your 700MHz Pendelum III. But think how fast DOS programs would run :)
But seriously, the kernel (basically the whole DOS) is only 2 or 3 files
(depends of what DOS you have) which usually occupy less then 200kB. You
did read right, 200 kilobytes, not megabytes. To get the full power of DOS
you will need some more files but often the whole system will fit on one
1,44MB floppy. And the small size applies to most DOS software. As you see
there's no need to waste a HUGE amount of money to a 40GB hard drive. The
same is true when talking about memory. 8MB is enough (although I suggest
16MB or more to advanced users). Because the software needs less resources
the whole system works faster
For starters you can get the operating system for free (and even with source
code if you're interested in it). Also a lot of DOS software is under GPL
which basically means free and source released (I've never seen a Winsane
program under GPL (although I believe there are some)). Even if the software
ain't source released it's still often free
Let's start with the operating system again, shall we? I for example have
6 different DOSs on my CDs and that's not even everything there is. On the
other hand, how many different Winsux beside the notorious Wacky9x can you
name? (I mean different distributions and not versions). Basically two:
Winlame 2000 and WindoN'Tdoit. And that's the only ones there are (maybe you
named also Winhuge 3.x, but this is just an earlier version of Ww-ww-win9x).
And Windog 2K ain't nothing more than a messed up hybrid freak from Whining98
and WinNoT. If you don't like your Windoze9x and don't have enough cash for
the "New Technology" (yeah, right) or the Y2K (bug :) distribution then the
only thing you can do is to move to another OS. Or add all kind of small
utilities to tweak your precious OS until it fits your needs/wishes. By DOS
you could simply try out some other distribution. And because DOS has been
around for a longer time then there's also MUCH more software for it
- Possibility to use floppies
Floppies are out of date, that's correct. But so what? True, compared to,
let's say CD-Rs, they are EXPENSIVE (one good diskette, that's ca. 1,44MB of
storage space, can cost as much as one CD-R, which can store ca. 720MB). But
you shouldn't forget that the floppy drive is included in the standard
configuration while the CD writer has to be bought additionally. There's also
the thing that you can (theoretically) get old floppies without any fee from
friends (or other nice people)
Most people agree that DOS is a relatively primitive operating system. But
just because of that it's quite easy to enhance it. You can for example
format your floppies up to 1,9MB or make the floppy drive faster by modifying
it's parameter table. Or you can set things so that a reboot takes only 20
seconds (I'm talking about a 486 which loads ca. 25 programs by starting).
Tell me, how do you accomplish those things in Wiagra9x?
- DOS is as complete as ajokecalledWin
The only thing I remember never seeing in any DOS distribution is the
character map. Everything else from user interface and LAN software to
disk maintaining tools and web browser has been present
- Less chances to get infected with a computer virus
If you know ANYTHING about viruses then you'll say: "But the majority of
viruses out there are DOS viruses". Absolutely true, but don't forget a
couple of things: a) most DOS viruses aren't iNet aware, so they don't use
it to spread; b) most DOS viruses are incompatible to WinS*** so they are
usually killed off by others before they can reach you. You won't get
infected with such notorious things as CIH or Melissa or any other
Willagepeople9x virus so you don't have to be paranoiac about every CD-R
a friend (who had a CIH attack lately) gives you
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The disadvantages
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As it's so by EVERYTHING, DOS too has some disadvantages when compared to
Winter9x
- Very few large/well known companies still support DOS
This doesn't mean that there ain't any new software, just most of it is
from smaller (mostly mail-order) companies
- You can't play newer games
Most of them use additions like OpenGL or DirectX and these are things which
are not present in DOS
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Conclusion
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If you have just bought a high-end PC which cost several thousand dollars and
had pre-installed Wingadget then I don't say that you should wipe your HD and
install DOS. If you on the other hand are thinking about buying a computer and
discover (or already know) that your financial resources are rather limited
then I do suggest buying (or rather finding) some used 486 or rather-low-MHz
Pentium and using DOS as operating system. If you can live without Half-Life
or Age Of Empires II then DOS certainly deserves a chance.