FreeDOS

[Grant A.]

I have some questions about it, what is so great about it? Is it any better than Linux at any tasks? Does it have a specific task it carries out? Is there a modern GUI for it? Why is Dell selling it?

[seanc7]

Basically it's a modern version of DOS that supports such things as USB and more.

Dell is selling it as an answer to people that don't want Windows but for some reason they have to sell some OS to install on it. Don't know why that is though.

[maybeway36]

I have some questions about it, what is so great about it?

Not much, but IMO it's the best version of DOS, so if you need DOS that's what you use.

Is it any better than Linux at any tasks?

For modern tasks, not really. But DOS has its uses.

Does it have a specific task it carries out?

Not so much, but it can do things like booting from floppy, formatting disks, and of couse, playing old games. And there are many low-level hardware utilities that run on DOS.

Is there a modern GUI for it?

OpenGEM is on the install CD, but I never really use a GUI for DOS.

Why is Dell selling it?

I think Dell has a policy saying they won't sell computers without an OS.

[cardinals_fan]

FreeDOS is a fully usable DOS replacement (if you need to replace DOS for some reason). Dell sells it because they signed a contract to sell an OS on all their machines, and FreeDOS is, well, free and very small.

[cmay]

i have been using freedos. i do not anymore. i liked it since its very easy to relate to as a ex windows user. i used it for learning turbo pascal 7.0 which iu could not do on linux unless i used ,well dosbox. is it better or more secure and is there any decent GUI for it i wil say no way. then use minix or bsd or solaris instead. but one thiing is that some companies and in fact our dansih health service believe or not still use dos for some things. that can replace this. and one more thing i ben playing around with is to make a tiny sort of game console using freedos and the free games there is for dos that once was expensive. i thinnk if i should for some reason desing a netcafe or some thing like that i would use linux but to make a real game machne like the ones that i played pacman on in the grillbar i would use freedos in a ordinary computer that i build into a cabinet that looks like the old game console thingys . if i had the money that is. or knew i could sell it. freedos is still kinda cool but i like a minix or textbased debian setup better now. (the c:\ can drive me crazy at times)

[Grant A.]

Thank you all very much for the info.

[fistfullofroses]

Also, keep in mind that FreeDOS does have a few GUIs. You can always use Win3.1 for example. Using packet drivers you can get networking going, and you have a few options for a browser (Arachne, Lynx, OffByOne). You could probably get some decent sound and so forth going as well. Essentially, if you have an old 486 or below laying around and you want to breathe a little life back into it, you can, using FreeDOS. There are also several companies that have legacy software that is no longer compatible with Microsoft Windows. For them, FreeDOS is a way to get an OS that will allow them to continue using that software (Mazda has such a system, but they also have a system that uses Red Hat, and another using XP... go figure).

[init1]

I have some questions about it, what is so great about it? Is it any better than Linux at any tasks? Does it have a specific task it carries out? Is there a modern GUI for it? Why is Dell selling it?

I use it for playing Dungeon Crawl, since it boots very fast. It's especially good on old computers that would struggle with Linux. You can get a few GUIs running on it (such as OpenGem) but I prefer to use the default shell.