Enhanced DOS, the Seven Weapons: Chinese DOS
Being able to display Chinese under DOS is probably a wish we all share. That way, when the system crashes, recovery becomes much more convenient. But DOS just has to be in English, that scary English, which gives beginners a very helpless feeling. Want to use Chinese DOS? Then listen while I explain it slowly!
There are actually many Chinese character support systems under DOS. For example, the Pdos95 that comes with Win98 is one of them, and also one that many readers use quite a lot. The earliest Chinese character support system I used under DOS was also Pdos95. But Pdos95 takes up quite a lot of system memory, and its compatibility is not very strong either. For most people, after loading the Chinese character support system on a Chinese boot disk made with it, there is basically not much conventional memory left at all! But Pdos95 is not without advantages. For example, Chinese input is relatively fast (it has phrase association), and it comes with Win98, etc.
TW Tianhui Chinese Character Support System is one DOS Chinese character support system that really has to be mentioned. It has so many advantages. For example, it is small (only around 200k), has strong compatibility (it can run HD-copy), and also comes with Chinese localization for DOS prompts. It really is a rare and valuable Chinese character support system! And after loading the Tianhui ABC input method, Chinese input speed is not inferior to Pdos95 at all.
CCDOS is also a Chinese character support system under DOS that we use fairly often. It is fast, and it has many of the advantages that Tianhui Chinese Character Support System has too—after all, they came from the same person! But compared with Tianhui, it does not support direct screen writing, and it has a usage time limit. Unlike the Tianhui pocket edition, which was given away for free. So I rarely use it!
UCDOS is really too famous, right! But do you know why I put it so far back before writing about it? Because it has too many shortcomings. For example, under DOS, displaying Chinese filenames produces quite a bit of garbled text! Also, it does not support HD-copy, and its compatibility is not very strong. But there are already so many people using it; that alone is enough to show how good it is.
XZl Pocket Dragon is the smallest Chinese character support system under DOS, only an unbelievable 53k. It is really too small! Very suitable for making a Chinese Win98 boot disk with it. But Pocket Dragon also has quite a few shortcomings. For example, the fonts are rather ugly, and the Pinyin input method is very slow! The unregistered version has no Wubi input method, and its compatibility is not as strong as Tianhui's either!
SPDOS is also a Chinese character support system under DOS that many of us use quite a lot. Don't tell me you haven't even heard of it—we used SPDOS when we were learning WPS as kids, didn't we! That rings a bell now, right. Its input method really needs no praise, we're just too familiar with it! (All forced out of us by exams back then) Dizzy! As for compatibility, it isn't all that great. The latest version is SPDOS6.0+WPS3.0, and there's a download link below.
There's one more very important thing I want to introduce to everyone, and that is Dfkc98 Dongfang Kuaiche 98 for DOS. I don't need to say much about what it is used for, right! It is really extremely useful for beginners. But for Tianhui and CCDOS it isn't that useful, because those two Chinese character support systems both have their own Chinese-localized prompt files.
Finally I want to talk about Chinese long filename support under Chinese DOS. To display Chinese long filenames under DOS, you must use the DOSLFN program together with CP936UNI.TBL. To use it, just type DOSLFN /C- /Z:CP936UNI.TBL at the prompt and press Enter.
With the software above, you can very easily make a Chinese boot disk. This way, under DOS we won't have that helpless feeling anymore.
All the software mentioned above can be downloaded from Dosbbs.2ya.com and newdos.yginfo.net, so I won't list them one by one!
Shen Jie
Being able to display Chinese under DOS is probably a wish we all share. That way, when the system crashes, recovery becomes much more convenient. But DOS just has to be in English, that scary English, which gives beginners a very helpless feeling. Want to use Chinese DOS? Then listen while I explain it slowly!
There are actually many Chinese character support systems under DOS. For example, the Pdos95 that comes with Win98 is one of them, and also one that many readers use quite a lot. The earliest Chinese character support system I used under DOS was also Pdos95. But Pdos95 takes up quite a lot of system memory, and its compatibility is not very strong either. For most people, after loading the Chinese character support system on a Chinese boot disk made with it, there is basically not much conventional memory left at all! But Pdos95 is not without advantages. For example, Chinese input is relatively fast (it has phrase association), and it comes with Win98, etc.
TW Tianhui Chinese Character Support System is one DOS Chinese character support system that really has to be mentioned. It has so many advantages. For example, it is small (only around 200k), has strong compatibility (it can run HD-copy), and also comes with Chinese localization for DOS prompts. It really is a rare and valuable Chinese character support system! And after loading the Tianhui ABC input method, Chinese input speed is not inferior to Pdos95 at all.
CCDOS is also a Chinese character support system under DOS that we use fairly often. It is fast, and it has many of the advantages that Tianhui Chinese Character Support System has too—after all, they came from the same person! But compared with Tianhui, it does not support direct screen writing, and it has a usage time limit. Unlike the Tianhui pocket edition, which was given away for free. So I rarely use it!
UCDOS is really too famous, right! But do you know why I put it so far back before writing about it? Because it has too many shortcomings. For example, under DOS, displaying Chinese filenames produces quite a bit of garbled text! Also, it does not support HD-copy, and its compatibility is not very strong. But there are already so many people using it; that alone is enough to show how good it is.
XZl Pocket Dragon is the smallest Chinese character support system under DOS, only an unbelievable 53k. It is really too small! Very suitable for making a Chinese Win98 boot disk with it. But Pocket Dragon also has quite a few shortcomings. For example, the fonts are rather ugly, and the Pinyin input method is very slow! The unregistered version has no Wubi input method, and its compatibility is not as strong as Tianhui's either!
SPDOS is also a Chinese character support system under DOS that many of us use quite a lot. Don't tell me you haven't even heard of it—we used SPDOS when we were learning WPS as kids, didn't we! That rings a bell now, right. Its input method really needs no praise, we're just too familiar with it! (All forced out of us by exams back then) Dizzy! As for compatibility, it isn't all that great. The latest version is SPDOS6.0+WPS3.0, and there's a download link below.
There's one more very important thing I want to introduce to everyone, and that is Dfkc98 Dongfang Kuaiche 98 for DOS. I don't need to say much about what it is used for, right! It is really extremely useful for beginners. But for Tianhui and CCDOS it isn't that useful, because those two Chinese character support systems both have their own Chinese-localized prompt files.
Finally I want to talk about Chinese long filename support under Chinese DOS. To display Chinese long filenames under DOS, you must use the DOSLFN program together with CP936UNI.TBL. To use it, just type DOSLFN /C- /Z:CP936UNI.TBL at the prompt and press Enter.
With the software above, you can very easily make a Chinese boot disk. This way, under DOS we won't have that helpless feeling anymore.
All the software mentioned above can be downloaded from Dosbbs.2ya.com and newdos.yginfo.net, so I won't list them one by one!
Shen Jie
