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MS DOS: A Eulogy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the alas-we-knew-ye-all-too-well dept.

roadhog95 writes: "Love it or hate it, I'm sure everyone's got a love story or traumatic memory of the infamous MS-DOS. Byte magazine reports on the passing away of DOS in light of the recent Windows XP launch. Even Regis Philben stopped by to pay tribute: 'Bill... Is that your final command prompt?'"

4 of 794 comments (clear)

  1. DOS was good by ankit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People keep complaining about DOS all the time... about autoexec.bat, config.sys, and what not. IMHO, DOS was and _is_ one of the best and cleanest operating systems to learn about the intel architecture. Where else can you issue BIOS interrupts, and play around with system memory? Linux doesnt let me do that unless I compile a kernel module, and what not.
    Trey, DOS wasnt the best desktop/server/handheld Operating System, but it surely was a great learning experience for all who used and programmed for it.

    I still use TurboC on DOS when I need to try out some small program, and dont want to wait for linux to load.

    Another point, I dont think you can ever have a successful operating system without any command prompt. Copying and moving files can never be as easy using a dumb GUI file manager.

    --
    Don't Panic
  2. Re:16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit... by micromoog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh wait, it's better to have /bin for programs, and /usr/bin for programs, and /sbin for, uh, programs . . . some of which depend on files in various subfolders of /lib (or was it /usr/lib?) . . . much cleaner.

  3. Remembering DOS by Delph · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even through I now solely use Linux I will miss DOS. It was my first operating system and my lifeline whenever the users on the network screwed up with their Window$ boxes.

    With DOS and Doom I learned syntaxsis, options and commands. It gave me the challenge and the boost necessary for me to head towards an IT career.

    So long DOS, you were Window$ last hope!

    --
    Writing: no longer done with the fountain pen, now done with an eraser.
    1. Re:Remembering DOS by stevey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Even through I now solely use Linux I will miss DOS. It was my first operating system and my lifeline whenever the users on the network screwed up with their Window$ boxes.

      I often think its funny how a lot of people cite the use of the command line as being a factor in slowing its spread.

      Back in the "old days" everybody use DOS, and the command line ruled.

      Maybe my friends weren't typical - but I remember in Windows 3.1 days many of them would say "Oh, that'd be easier in DOS".

      Now with the GUI spread of Windows people are being taught to think of command line utilities as old fashioned - and less powerfull, which is clearly a mistake.