News FreeDOS open-source text-based OS turns 30, still in active development and primarily used for retro gaming

[Admin]

Jim Hall built FreeDOS as an answer to Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. 30 years later, the command-line operating system is still alive and kicking and getting a renaissance thanks to retro gaming.

FreeDOS open-source text-based OS turns 30, still in active development and primarily used for retro gaming : Read more

 

[JeffreyP55]

I have it. I get much more enjoy Amiga Forever emulator (Amiga OS's). Way far ahead of DOS and crippled video cards of the day. Finally had to jump ship. Commodore pooched the gooch. Developers went elsewhere, Commodore turned out garbage at the end then folded. I knew the father of the Amiga. Nice man as was his wife a nice lady. R.I.P. Jay Minor.

 

[TerryLaze]

I have it. I much more enjoy Amiga Forever emulator (Amiga OS's).

Yeah but that needs windows to run, or linux.
FreeDos boots the PC from nothing and is great for running dos things.

Next best thing is any of the frontends that boot linux and then straight into retroarch and can run pretty much anything, including dos and amiga.

 

[mbbrutman]

That's a PCjr pictured in the article. Too bad a standard PCjr can't actually run FreeDOS. ;-0

 

[bit_user]

I still have a FreeDOS USB stick that I made for installing BIOS updates, SSD firmware update, etc. However, I haven't had to use it in probably the past 5 years due to better support for that sort of thing in Linux or via UEFI.

BTW, the UEFI shell seems very DOS-like, but with better built-in hardware support. That was a pleasant surprise, when I first discovered it.

 

[KnightShadey]

Nowadays you would probably need to dig out your granddad’s old IBM PC

Hey, what d'ya mean grandad? 🤨 😜

My 2nd PC as a kid, after the Commodore P.E.T. (with 8" floppy + tape drive [ "Press Play on Tape 1"]) was an original IBM PC with dual floppies, first upgrade was Electrohome colour monitor and individual punch down memory kit with loose chips in a tube.
I still have the Keyboard in the garage (which is still the best keyboard ever IMO, just like a Selectric typewriter), the PC itself is buried in parents' attic, along with original boxes of IBM PC DOS, BASIC, FORTRAN, and games like Micro$oft Decathlon, Temple of Apshai, and Kings Quest. Some of those are now on Steam.

Even used the PCJr (like the one in the photo) at summer camp at the IBM Country Club in Markham.

Still have original M$ Arcade that came with the Model 25 that includes Asteroids, BattleZone, Centipede, Missile Command, and Tempest. I transfered it from floppy to file and it still plays on Windows from 3.1->95,98,2K,ME,Vista,7,8,10 & 11* , with just a few tweaks mainly for speed, bit more for 11.

My Grandad's PC (which would, I guess, stand for Pocket Calculator) was one of these which I used to love to play with, along with a slide-ruler;