Windows Vs.

MS DOS
During the 20th century, Windows and Macintosh operating systems (OS) effectively overtook DOS
for nearly all home computer users. However, this was not always the case. Many programs originally
appeared only in DOS or with a viable DOS version. WordPerfect is a prominent example. Although
Microsoft released the last version of MS-DOS in 1994, Windows owes much of its functionality to
the existence of DOS.

What is DOS?
1. DOS is an acronym that stands for disk operating system. The original name was MS-DOS,
which is also an acronym, with MS being an abbreviation for Microsoft. DOS was developed as the
original OS for IBM-compatible computers in 1981. It is a compact program that requires limited
conventional memory, and almost no video resources or drivers. However, MS-DOS is a 16-bit
program with limited graphics capacity. It also does not support multitple users or multitasking.

What is Windows?
2. Windows is a graphical user interface (GUI) based program. It differs from DOS in that DOS
requires command-line entries for execution. Windows, on the other hand, provides an ostensibly
user-friendly means for the user to execute commands through mouse clicks and menu choices
rather than command-line commands. However, early versions of Windows were dependent upon
DOS to operate. Later versions of Windows did not share this dependence, although they did allow
users to execute limited DOS commands.

Demands on System Resources

3. Booting up a system in DOS is much less demanding on a computer's resources. This is
because of the comparative simplicity and compactness of DOS as opposed to Windows. Running
DOS diagnostics is much more likely to disclose major faults with the computer without risking
system failure or otherwise interfering with the basic functioning of the computer. On the other hand,
Windows is unlikely to boot if major faults are present within the computer's OS.

Registry and Swap Files

4. Windows also differs from DOS in its use of a registry, file swapping and temporary files, in
booting up and in continuing operation of the computer. As a result, Windows programs can be very
difficult to delete manually. Excessive numbers of temporary files and file fragments can also cause
Windows to run slowly or even to crash. DOS uses none of these features, instead utilizing a
directory system, with programs contained wholly within a particular directory, with subdirectories if
necessary.

DR-DOS/OpenDOS Enhancement Project

5. The DR-DOS/OpenDOS Enhancement Project is intended to develop DR-DOS (Digital
Research DOS) as an open source OS with a viable suite of programs. The project began in 2002
and has continued, even as DOS was acquired by a new owner, Devicelogics, which developed a
new version of DR-DOS for the embedded systems market. A large number of programs have also
been developed in relationship to this project, including Internet browsers and programs that allow
users to play movies.