Unlock the full InfoQ experience by logging in! Stay updated with your favorite authors and topics, engage with content, and download exclusive resources. Vivek Yadav, an engineering manager from ...

FreeDOS, the free and open-source alternative to Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS), just released a new major update. It still has excellent compatibility with MS-DOS software, including Windows 3.1 and earlier, ...

Microsoft’s MS-DOS (and its IBM-branded counterpart, PC DOS) eventually became software juggernauts, powering the vast majority of PCs throughout the ’80s and serving as the underpinnings of Windows ...

We’re not 100% sure which phase of Microsoft’s “Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish” gameplan this represents, but just yesterday the Redmond software giant decided to grace us with the source code for MS ...

Who doesn’t remember PC games such as Maniac Mansion, the King’s Quest series and the dubious adventures of Leisure Suit Larry or software such as Microsoft Works and Lotus Smart Suite? These titles ...

Microsoft has open-sourced another bit of computing history this week: The company teamed up with IBM to release the source code of 1988’s MS-DOS 4.00, a version better known for its unpopularity, ...

Facepalm: Microsoft deserves kudos for open-sourcing the MS-DOS 4.00 source code, shedding light on an important milestone in computing history. But the tech giant has bungled the release in a way ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Before Windows, there was MS-DOS—that’s the Microsoft Disk ...

In context: Back in 1980, Tim Paterson was creating a new operating system he called QDOS or Quick and Dirty Operating System. The system was later renamed 86-DOS, as it was being designed to run on ...

It's no joke. Microsoft and IBM have joined forces to open-source the 1988 operating system MS-DOS 4.0 under the MIT License. Why? Well, why not? That got Hanselman and Wilcox digging into the ...

You can now play classic DOS games on your Mac in your browser, thanks to the online service DOS_deck. Here's how to use it. At the dawn of the personal computer era ...