StickyI
DOS is a very practical operating system, and because of that, it has long been widely loved by people both in China and abroad, always having hundreds of millions of users. However, since 1995, for reasons such as commercial interests, Microsoft decided to abandon MS-DOS. At that time there were already many kinds of DOS. Besides MS-DOS, there were also PC-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS, and so on, but because of pressure from Microsoft, not many people used them, while most users were using MS-DOS. Because Microsoft completely gave up MS-DOS and turned to developing Windows, this caused dissatisfaction among a great many DOS users and enthusiasts. Also, the Windows 9x everyone commonly used was really just a large program under DOS; without DOS support, it simply could not run. But this also shows that DOS is actually very powerful, and that DOS software has huge development potential, because even a DOS enhancement as powerful as Windows could be written.
Windows is a multitasking operating environment, but the constraints and restrictions it places on program writing are much greater than DOS, so many programmers, out of dissatisfaction with Windows and a deep understanding of the value and potential of DOS development, continued to develop DOS software. Thanks to many years of accumulated experience, their software development skills kept improving, so the quality of the DOS software they produced also kept getting better. In order to develop more software and improve development efficiency, they designed one DOS software development tool after another. More and more people began using these development tools, and they spread rapidly abroad. For details, see an article called “DJGPP Programs and Protected Mode” (in the “DOS Articles” section). One especially important point is that, as mentioned above, although MS-DOS has stopped developing, that does not mean DOS as a whole has stopped developing. The highest version of MS-DOS is 8.0 (included in Windows ME). After that Microsoft began developing Windows based on Windows NT components, and only then did Windows become a truly independent operating system. Aside from MS-DOS, other DOS systems have also been developing. DOS systems still being continuously developed and updated include FreeDOS, PTS-DOS, ROM-DOS, and so on. These DOS systems are all very powerful, often surpassing MS-DOS, and FreeDOS is also completely free and openly available. Therefore, programmers can fully develop new DOS software for them without having to rely on MS-DOS. That was probably the state of DOS in the late 1990s.
After that, a movement called the “open source movement” arose. Many programmers and users, dissatisfied with the overbearing dominance of Microsoft Windows, left the Windows camp. In its place came a rise in the development of software for other operating systems, such as DOS and Linux. As a result, the number of people designing and developing DOS software increased rapidly, and they formed development groups one after another to develop new DOS and other non-Windows operating system software. For details, see an article called “A Comparison of the Development of DOS and Linux in Recent Years.” Because the number of developers increased, the original DOS software development tools also began to be further updated, and they came to support FAT32 and long file names. In addition, many of the people developing software this time were elites among programmers, so naturally the quality of the DOS software they produced was nothing like before. For example, because of the appearance of programming libraries such as Allegro, implementing playback of MP3 and other music under DOS became easy for them. Compared with older DOS software represented by DOSAMP, GDS Viewer, and the like, these newer DOS programs show a fundamental improvement in quality. SEA image viewer software, once considered extremely powerful, is now only an ordinarily powerful piece of software. Another very important change lies in support for FAT32 and long file names. The currently popular DJGPP programs have already achieved perfect support for long file names when the LFN API is present. In short, the overall improvement in the level of these new DOS programs has been very obvious. In order to challenge the Windows interface, programmers (often working collectively) developed one Windows-like interface enhancement after another; famous ones include Seal, Qube, WinDOS, and so on. Some people have even developed DOS operating systems with 32-bit kernels, such as FreeDOS 32. The facts prove that the level of programming in these projects is very high. These programs are all still under continuous development up to now, and the results they have achieved are plain for all to see. Moreover, their most notable characteristic is free and open development. As mentioned above, SEAL, FreeDOS 32, and so on are all free software that follow the famous GNU GPL, and more detailed information can be found in the article “DOS Is Free — An Introduction to FreeDOS.”
Compared with the still-rising momentum of DOS software development abroad, DOS software development in China is very slow, and its efficiency is not high. Abroad, people have even begun designing their own DOS systems, such as PowerDOS, while in China there is no such atmosphere. Of course, to a large extent this is because everyone does not understand the state of DOS development abroad, and some have even formed the latent idea that “DOS software is already outdated,” which of course is incorrect. DOS is an operating system with very strong vitality and fairly comprehensive functions. It can do all kinds of work, and is not limited to only certain areas (such as disk management). Everyone can read the article “What DOS Disk Management Functions Made Me Think Of...” for more detailed information. And even in China, DOS is still widely used, whether on some personal computers or in industrial production (especially very important embedded systems and so on) and in many other operations, while there are even more DOS enthusiasts. Therefore, everyone should view DOS from the perspective that DOS and its software are still being continuously updated and developed. Mr. Mo, webmaster of “Qibu,” and I have already reached a consensus: we should vigorously promote new DOS software and tell everyone about the latest developments of DOS in the world, in order to promote the development of DOS in China. At the same time, I hope that the broad community of domestic DOS enthusiasts and users will also come help DOS grow and develop together! If you know how to program, or are interested in DOS software development, you are welcome to join “DOS Development” and help develop new DOS software (more detailed information can be found in the “DOS Development” section).
Windows is a multitasking operating environment, but the constraints and restrictions it places on program writing are much greater than DOS, so many programmers, out of dissatisfaction with Windows and a deep understanding of the value and potential of DOS development, continued to develop DOS software. Thanks to many years of accumulated experience, their software development skills kept improving, so the quality of the DOS software they produced also kept getting better. In order to develop more software and improve development efficiency, they designed one DOS software development tool after another. More and more people began using these development tools, and they spread rapidly abroad. For details, see an article called “DJGPP Programs and Protected Mode” (in the “DOS Articles” section). One especially important point is that, as mentioned above, although MS-DOS has stopped developing, that does not mean DOS as a whole has stopped developing. The highest version of MS-DOS is 8.0 (included in Windows ME). After that Microsoft began developing Windows based on Windows NT components, and only then did Windows become a truly independent operating system. Aside from MS-DOS, other DOS systems have also been developing. DOS systems still being continuously developed and updated include FreeDOS, PTS-DOS, ROM-DOS, and so on. These DOS systems are all very powerful, often surpassing MS-DOS, and FreeDOS is also completely free and openly available. Therefore, programmers can fully develop new DOS software for them without having to rely on MS-DOS. That was probably the state of DOS in the late 1990s.
After that, a movement called the “open source movement” arose. Many programmers and users, dissatisfied with the overbearing dominance of Microsoft Windows, left the Windows camp. In its place came a rise in the development of software for other operating systems, such as DOS and Linux. As a result, the number of people designing and developing DOS software increased rapidly, and they formed development groups one after another to develop new DOS and other non-Windows operating system software. For details, see an article called “A Comparison of the Development of DOS and Linux in Recent Years.” Because the number of developers increased, the original DOS software development tools also began to be further updated, and they came to support FAT32 and long file names. In addition, many of the people developing software this time were elites among programmers, so naturally the quality of the DOS software they produced was nothing like before. For example, because of the appearance of programming libraries such as Allegro, implementing playback of MP3 and other music under DOS became easy for them. Compared with older DOS software represented by DOSAMP, GDS Viewer, and the like, these newer DOS programs show a fundamental improvement in quality. SEA image viewer software, once considered extremely powerful, is now only an ordinarily powerful piece of software. Another very important change lies in support for FAT32 and long file names. The currently popular DJGPP programs have already achieved perfect support for long file names when the LFN API is present. In short, the overall improvement in the level of these new DOS programs has been very obvious. In order to challenge the Windows interface, programmers (often working collectively) developed one Windows-like interface enhancement after another; famous ones include Seal, Qube, WinDOS, and so on. Some people have even developed DOS operating systems with 32-bit kernels, such as FreeDOS 32. The facts prove that the level of programming in these projects is very high. These programs are all still under continuous development up to now, and the results they have achieved are plain for all to see. Moreover, their most notable characteristic is free and open development. As mentioned above, SEAL, FreeDOS 32, and so on are all free software that follow the famous GNU GPL, and more detailed information can be found in the article “DOS Is Free — An Introduction to FreeDOS.”
Compared with the still-rising momentum of DOS software development abroad, DOS software development in China is very slow, and its efficiency is not high. Abroad, people have even begun designing their own DOS systems, such as PowerDOS, while in China there is no such atmosphere. Of course, to a large extent this is because everyone does not understand the state of DOS development abroad, and some have even formed the latent idea that “DOS software is already outdated,” which of course is incorrect. DOS is an operating system with very strong vitality and fairly comprehensive functions. It can do all kinds of work, and is not limited to only certain areas (such as disk management). Everyone can read the article “What DOS Disk Management Functions Made Me Think Of...” for more detailed information. And even in China, DOS is still widely used, whether on some personal computers or in industrial production (especially very important embedded systems and so on) and in many other operations, while there are even more DOS enthusiasts. Therefore, everyone should view DOS from the perspective that DOS and its software are still being continuously updated and developed. Mr. Mo, webmaster of “Qibu,” and I have already reached a consensus: we should vigorously promote new DOS software and tell everyone about the latest developments of DOS in the world, in order to promote the development of DOS in China. At the same time, I hope that the broad community of domestic DOS enthusiasts and users will also come help DOS grow and develop together! If you know how to program, or are interested in DOS software development, you are welcome to join “DOS Development” and help develop new DOS software (more detailed information can be found in the “DOS Development” section).
Wengier - 新DOS时代
欢迎大家来到我的“新DOS时代”网站，里面有各类DOS软件和资料，地址：
http://wendos.mycool.net/
E-Mail & MSN: wengierwu AT hotmail.com （最近比较忙，有事请联系DOSroot和雨露，谢谢！）
欢迎大家来到我的“新DOS时代”网站，里面有各类DOS软件和资料，地址：
http://wendos.mycool.net/
E-Mail & MSN: wengierwu AT hotmail.com （最近比较忙，有事请联系DOSroot和雨露，谢谢！）
