China DOS Union

I started using computers when I was in fifth grade in elementary school, and the operating system I used back then was DOS, so I have an indescribable nostalgia and attachment to DOS. Over these past few years, WINDOWS has rapidly taken over the personal computer operating system market, causing DOS to decline more and more, and I really have a lot of feelings about that! But when I saw this “China DOS Union,” I was really so happy! I never expected that across the Strait there would actually be an activity like “DOS development.” As a member, I want to put forward some of my views on this activity:
Besides breaking through the 640K memory limit, protected mode, and supporting 32-bit, I think if DOS wants to defeat windows, it still needs some other elements.
1. It needs a graphical user interface, and it must be unified
2. It needs application software backing it up like Microsoft Office does for windows
3. Support plug and play, and support lots of hardware, so users won’t need to manually load drivers when installing DOS
4. It should have built-in libraries like WINDOWS does. For example, when developing windows games, DirectX 8.0 gets used, and DOS should also have this kind of library
5. Like windows, it should make networking part of the operating system, because nowadays most people use their computers to go online
The above are some of my views. I really hope that one day I’ll see DOS rise again

The post above got messed up when I posted it, so I’m reposting it

I started using computers when I was in fifth grade in elementary school, and the operating system I used back then was DOS, so I have an indescribable nostalgia and attachment to DOS. Over these past few years, WINDOWS has rapidly taken over the personal computer operating system market, causing DOS to decline more and more, and I really have a lot of feelings about that! But when I saw this “China DOS Union,” I was really so happy! I never expected that across the Strait there would actually be an activity like “DOS development.” As a member, I want to put forward some of my views on this activity:
Besides breaking through the 640K memory limit, protected mode, and supporting 32-bit, I think if DOS wants to defeat windows, it still needs some other elements.
1. It needs a graphical user interface, and it must be unified
2. It needs application software backing it up like Microsoft Office does for windows
3. Support plug and play, and support lots of hardware, so users won’t need to manually load drivers when installing DOS
4. It should have many built-in libraries like WINDOWS does. For example, when developing windows games, DirectX 8.0 gets used, and DOS should also have this kind of library
5. Like windows, it should make networking part of the operating system, because nowadays most people use their computers to go online. The above are some of my views. I really hope that one day I’ll see DOS rise again

Right, it would be great if there were software like Microsoft Office for DOS, DirectX for DOS, Visual Studio for DOS, .NET Framework for DOS, Internet Explorer for DOS, and so on.

No idea when software like that will exist..... if it does, then there’ll be hope for a DOS revival

I don’t think it means all that much.
It’s like WPS. Aside from not being done as well as office, in what way is today’s WPS not like office?
In fact Microsoft has become a kind of standard. In order to be compatible with it, or in order to take users away from it, you have to make your interface similar to theirs. Linux is the same. It originally worked in character mode, but then it also came up with an X-windows interface, making it almost the same as windows.
Actually, windows is still the one that’s easiest to use. Simple and easy to learn, convenient to operate.
Learning DOS is a kind of foundation.
It lets you grasp some things that pure windows users don’t understand, so you can solve some basic problems (and generally the sort that leave pure windows users helpless).
I think linux is even more something you learn for the sake of playing with computers (controlling computers). If it really gets made simple and easy to use, then how is it any different from window? And if it really gets to the point where you can use it without thinking, then linux will inevitably be like windows too, hiding a lot of the technical stuff and not letting you understand it, only letting you use it.

In Taiwan, people who use computers now all just want them to be simple and easy to use, so if it isn’t like windows, is there still any hope for a DOS revival??

DOS gave me the greatest pleasure in assembly and C, that feeling of exploring the mysteries of 0 and 1 in a black-and-white world is the best. Of course it’s also the most dull and boring.
What about linux? I guess it’s the feeling of exploring the mysteries of 0 and 1 in networking. I haven’t really gotten into that yet.
If it absolutely has to be simple and easy to use, then use windows.
I don’t know whether building another windows-like DOS world would still be called a DOS world?
Back then, windows slowly changed from the DOS world into a windowed world. This is also one of the important arguments ordinary DOS supporters use to criticize windows and laugh at windows. They say that windows is actually nothing more than a huge application program running in a DOS environment.
Developing DOS, making DOS keep up with changes in hardware, making DOS support more hardware—I think that’s what’s important.

Assembly and C are not suitable for the masses after all. If you want it to spread, the system has to be made very user-friendly. For example, software like SEAL and Qube under DOS is quite good.

Besides nostalgia, one of the biggest reasons I love DOS is that the hardware it requires is extremely low-end, and it lets you easily explore the inner world of the computer

Also, DOS can bring out the system’s maximum performance in many situations. For example, MS-DOS 7.10 supports large memory, large hard disks, FAT12/16/32/NTFS/USB drives, and so on.

and it lets you easily explore the inner world of the computer----YES!

DOS can also be used to do things that windows can’t do, like repairing hard disks, removing BIOS passwords, and so on.....
So aside from its poorer user interface, DOS can do anything windows can do, and can even do more than windows can!! If DOS is going to revive, then this weakness in the user interface has to be thoroughly changed...

You can refer to Linux. It also has a character interface, but after running programs like X-Window on it, it becomes graphical. DOS is the same: although it itself has a character interface, after running software like SEAL, Qube, and Windows on it, it becomes graphical.

But that way it can’t show DOS’s special characteristics. WINDOWS is one example of that, so we definitely need to think of a way that can both show DOS’s characteristics and also get rid of the weakness of its user interface

Looking forward to all you DOS programming experts pushing DOS to a new peak!

DOS really does have a lot of advantages indeed: it’s fast, convenient, and if the system crashes it can also be repaired very easily.