Comparison of x86 DOS operating systems
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from X86 DOS Comparison)
This article details various versions of DOS-compatible operating systems.
Contents |
[edit] Historical and licensing information
Originally MS-DOS was designed to be an operating system that could run on any computer with a 8086-family microprocessor. It competed with other operating systems written for such computers, such as CP/M-86 and UCSD Pascal. Each computer would have its own distinct hardware and its own version of MS-DOS, a situation similar to the one that existed for CP/M, with MS-DOS emulating the same solution as CP/M to adapt for different hardware platforms. So there were many different original equipment manufacturer (OEM) versions of MS-DOS for different hardware. But the greater speed attainable by direct control of hardware was of particular importance, especially when running computer games. So very soon an IBM-compatible architecture became the goal, and before long all 8086-family computers closely emulated IBM hardware, and only a single version of MS-DOS for a fixed hardware platform was all that was needed for the market. This specific version of MS-DOS is the version that is discussed here, as all other versions of MS-DOS died out with their system. One version of such a generic MS-DOS (Z-DOS) is mentioned here, but there were dozens more. All these were for personal computers that used a 8086-family microprocessor, but which were not IBM PC compatible.
| Name | Creator | Current code owner-maintainer | License | First public release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC DOS 1.0 | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 12 August 1981 |
| PC DOS 1.1 | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | May 1982 |
| PC DOS 2.0 | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | March 1983 |
| PC DOS 3.0 | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | August 1984 |
| IBM DOS 4.0 (called PC DOS 4.0) | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1988 |
| IBM DOS 5.0 (called PC DOS 5.0) | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1991 |
| PC DOS 6.1, PC DOS 6.3 | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1993 |
| PC DOS 7.0 (revision 0) | IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1995 |
| PC DOS 2000 (PC DOS 7.0 revision 1) |
IBM | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1998 |
| PC DOS 7.10 | IBM | IBM | Proprietary | 2003 |
| MS-DOS 1.0[1] | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1982 |
| Z-DOS 1.25 | OEM Zenith | No longer supported | Proprietary | May 1982 |
| MS-DOS 2.0 (first version with name of "MS-DOS") | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | March 1983 |
| MS-DOS 3.0 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1984 |
| MS-DOS 3.2 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1986 |
| DOS 3.27 (similar to PC DOS 3.20 with minor improvements)[citation needed] | OEM Olivetti | No longer supported | Proprietary | 22 December 1986 |
| MS-DOS 3.3 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1987 |
| MS-DOS 4.0 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1988 |
| MS-DOS 5.0 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1991 |
| MS-DOS 6.0 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1994 |
| MS-DOS 6.20 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1993 |
| MS-DOS 6.21 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1994 |
| MS-DOS 6.22 | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1994 |
| MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95A) | Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1995 |
| MS-DOS 7.10 (Windows 95 OSR 2, Windows 95 OSR 2.5, Windows 98, and Windows 98 SE) |
Microsoft | No longer supported | Proprietary[2] | 1996 |
| MS-DOS 8.0 (Windows Me)[3] | Microsoft | No longer supported[4] | Proprietary[2] | 2000 |
| DOS Plus 1.2 & 1.2a | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1985 |
| DOS Plus 2.1 | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1986 |
| DR DOS 3.31-3.35 | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1988 |
| DR DOS 3.40-3.41 | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1989 |
| DR DOS 5.0 | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1990 |
| DR DOS 6.0 | Digital Research | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1991 |
| Novell DOS 7 | Novell | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1993 |
| Caldera OpenDOS 7.01 | Caldera, Inc.; Caldera UK, Ltd. | Not officially supported; A derivative, Enhanced DR-DOS, is maintained by Udo Kuhnt |
Free non-commercial use | 1997 |
| Caldera DR-OpenDOS 7.02 | Caldera, Inc.; Caldera UK, Ltd. | No longer supported | Free non-commercial use | 1997 |
| Caldera DR-DOS 7.02 | Caldera, Inc.; Caldera UK, Ltd. | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1998 |
| Caldera DR-DOS 7.03 | Caldera Thin Clients, Inc.; Caldera UK, Ltd; Lineo, Inc. |
DRDOS, Inc. | Proprietary | 1999 (pre-released in 1998) |
| DR-DOS 8.0 | DeviceLogics | No longer supported | Proprietary | 2004 |
| DR-DOS 8.1 | DRDOS, Inc. | No longer supported[5] | Proprietary | 2005 |
| FreeDOS 1.0 | Jim Hall et al. | The FreeDOS Project | GPL | 2006 |
| FreeDOS 1.1 | Jim Hall et al. | The FreeDOS Project | GPL | 2 January 2012 |
| PTS-DOS 32 | PhysTechSoft[6] | PhysTechSoft | Proprietary | 1991 |
| PTS-DOS 2000 | PhysTechSoft | PhysTechSoft | Proprietary | ? |
| PTS-DOS 2000 PRO | PhysTechSoft | PhysTechSoft | Proprietary | ? |
| ROM-DOS | Datalight | Datalight | Proprietary | 1989 |
| DIP DOS 2.11 | Atari Corporation | No longer supported | Proprietary | 1989 |
[edit] Technical specifications
| Name | Hard drive: partition size max | Native support: File systems |
Native support: floppy capacities 3.5" |
Native support: floppy capacities 5.25" |
Integrated disk compression utility | Native support: long file names |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS-DOS 1.0 | n/a | FAT12 | n/a | 160 KB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 1.1 | n/a | FAT12 | n/a | 320 KB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 2.0 | 16 MB[citation needed] | FAT12 | n/a | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 3.0 | 32 MB | FAT12, FAT16 | n/a | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 3.2 | 32 MB | FAT12, FAT16 | 720 KB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 3.3 | 32 MB | FAT12, FAT16 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 4.0 | 2 GB[citation needed] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 5.0 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB, 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 6.0 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | DoubleSpace | No |
| MS-DOS 6.20 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | DoubleSpace | No |
| MS-DOS 6.21 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| MS-DOS 6.22 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | DriveSpace | No |
| MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95A) | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MN, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | DriveSpace | No |
| MS-DOS 7.1 (Windows 95B/OSR2, Windows 95C/OSR2.5, Windows 98, and Windows 98SE) | 124.55 GB with FAT32[7] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | DriveSpace for versions of Windows 95, none for Windows 98 | No |
| MS-DOS 8.0 (Windows Me)[3] | 124.55 GB with FAT32[7] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| DOS Plus 1.2-2.1 | 32 MB | FAT12, FAT16, CP/M-86 | n/a | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB; CP/M 320 KB | No | No |
| DR DOS 3.31-3.35 | 2 GB[citation needed] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| DR DOS 3.40-3.41 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| DR DOS 5.0 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| DR DOS 6.0 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | SuperStor | No |
| PalmDOS 1 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | SuperStor | No |
| Novell DOS 7 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker | No |
| OpenDOS 7.01 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker | No |
| DR-OpenDOS 7.02 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker | No |
| DR-DOS 7.02 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, (FAT32 in FDISK only) | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker | Partial (COMMAND.COM and LONGNAME only) |
| DR-DOS 7.03 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, (FAT32 in FDISK only) | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker | Partial (COMMAND.COM and LONGNAME only) |
| DR-DOS 7.04-7.05 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 (non-bootable) | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker (not on FAT32) | Partial (COMMAND.COM and LONGNAME only) |
| DR-DOS 7.06-7.07 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 (bootable) | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Stacker (not on FAT32) | Partial (COMMAND.COM and LONGNAME only) |
| DR-DOS 8.0 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | Supported (not on FAT32) | Partial (COMMAND.COM only) |
| DR-DOS 8.1 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| FreeDOS 1.0 | 2 TB[citation needed] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | ? | No |
| FreeDOS 1.1 | 2 TB[citation needed] | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | ? | ? |
| PC DOS 1.0 | n/a | FAT12 | n/a | 160 KB | No | No |
| PC DOS 1.10 | n/a | FAT12 | n/a | 160 KB; 320 KB (double-sided) | No | No |
| PC DOS 6.1 (early version) | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| PC DOS 6.1 with Compression / PC DOS 6.3 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB | SuperStor | No |
| PC DOS 7.0 / PC DOS 2000 | 2 GB | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 1.86 MB (XDF), 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB, 1.54 MB (XDF) | Stacker | No |
| PC DOS 7.10 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 1.86 MB (XDF), 2.88 MB | 160 KB; 180 KB; 320 KB; 360 KB; 1.2 MB, 1.54 MB (XDF) | Stacker (not on FAT32) | No |
| PTS-DOS 32 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| PTS-DOS 2000 | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| PTS-DOS 2000 PRO | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | No |
| Datalight ROM-DOS | ? | FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B, FAT32 | 720 KB; 1.44 MB, 2.88 MB | 360 KB; 1.2 MB | No | Yes |
| DIP DOS | n/a | FAT12 | n/a | n/a | No | No |
[edit] References
- ^ Conner, Doug. "Father of DOS Still Having Fun at Microsoft". Micronews. http://www.patersontech.com/Dos/Micronews/paterson04_10_98.htm.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Current understanding has it that if one has a license to run a Windows version, one can also legally install any MS-DOS version up to the level of that Windows' version.
- ^ a b MS-DOS 8.0 has most of the functionality of prior versions, but with significant losses of usability, e.g., the loss of
FORMAT /Scommand, that can be substituted by formatting HDD/FDD and then copying IO.SYS from CD-ROM boot A: image, as first ever file onto drive; loss ofSYS A:(orSYS B:) command for floppies, that can be substituted too in the same way asFORMAT /S; inability to boot to a command prompt without substitution/modification of IO.SYS (other than CD-ROM boot version) and COMMAND.COM. For purpose of booting from C: drive, an unmodified IO.SYS from simulated A: boot diskette image, that is placed on Windows Me OEM CD-ROM, from which that CD boots, can be used, and English COMMAND.COM can be modified by replacing in this file at hex offset 00006510h byte 75h by byte EBh, or substituted by (now Freeware) 4DOS http://www.jpsoft.com/download.htm - ^ While Windows Me may be unsupported and end-of-life, a version of its underlying DOS is included with Windows XP. When one formats a floppy in Windows XP and selects "Create an MS-DOS startup disk", the floppy is formatted with a DOS version that identifies itself as "Windows Millennium Version 4.90.3000".
- ^ DR-DOS 8.1 was pulled from the market after it was discovered that 8.1 code had been lifted from FreeDOS in violation of the GPL license.
- ^ PhysTechSoft
- ^ a b As stated at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q184006& Microsoft's KB article 184006, the limit of 124.55 GB for FAT32 partition size is a mainly a limit of Windows 95/98's 16-bit SCANDISK utility. Other DOS versions supporting FAT32 may allow a larger partition size closer to the theoretical 2 TB/16 TB maximum suggested by FAT32's specifications. Windows 2000 and XP can mount and use a FAT32 partition larger than 32 GB, but they cannot natively create one, which according to Microsoft is by design.
[edit] See also
- Timeline of x86 DOS operating systems
- List of operating systems
- Comparison of Linux distributions
- Comparison of operating systems
