DOS
Unless you're about 30 something years old reading this page, you probably know very little about DOS. It is an operating system you can use on any Windows based PC. It's also known as Windows Command Line, Command Prompt, CMD.exe, or command.com.
Brief History
DOS (which stands for Disk Operating System) is an operating system developed by Microsoft and "introduced on the original IBM PC in 1982" (Parsons and Oja 2008). It features a command line interface where the user must enter commands to execute processes. This is in great contrast to the "point and click" graphical user interfaces of today like XP and Vista. DOS has provided a kernel for almost all their operating systems including 3.1, 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP. (Parsons and Oja 2008). During the 80's, there were thousands of software programs out there for DOS such as Visicalc. By today's standards and it's command line interface however, these program are considered crude and obsolete.
DOS features commands that are both internal and external commands which require a proper order or syntax as well as parameters to execute effectively by a user. Because of this, DOS is not user friendly.
If you're using a Windows based computer, you can get to DOS by going to "Start", "All Programs", "Accessories", and then "Command Prompt." Here's what it looks like (click the image for full size):
Yep, it's just a black screen with a blinking cursor waiting for a user to input commands. There's no fancy GUI here.
Advantages/Disadvantages
There's not many advantages to using DOS for the average PC user:
- The kernel is extremely small. The OS could fit on a floppy disk.
- If you know to use it, you can execute commands faster than using the GUI.
Now, the disadvantages are many based on today's modern, easier-to-use OS's:
- As mentioned, DOS is a command line interface; no GUI
- Requires knowing the DOS commands.
- DOS only support the 8.3 format for file names. This means file names are limited to eight characters with a three digit file extension.
- Proper order or syntax of commands is required.
- Requires moving through numerous file directories to find what you're looking for (unless you already know where it's located).
Interested?
Probably not xD. Really, DOS is only useful for a few things over the GUI such as commands like Ping, Tracet, msconfig, and netstat. I, myself do know how to use DOS, and I use it sometimes if I don't feel like clicking through multiple directories to find something in Windows. It is worth knowing some of the basic commands which I've listed on my DOS Commands page just for the sake of knowing. After all, DOS is the basis for what Windows has evolved into today.
Source:
1 Parsons, June, and Dan Oja. Computer Concepts. 10th edition. Boston: Thomson Course Technology, 2008.
