All Things Microsoft > Microsoft Software
DOS: Reasons to prefer it above Windowz
WMD:
quote:Originally posted by Aloone:
I'm talking about FreeDOS, MS-DOS sucks.
--- End quote ---
How does FreeDOS solve the problems?
quote:I haven't tried this but if you have a non-winmodem and boot into a FAT32 partition and then use a DOS web browser, if you get infected all you do is reformat and reinstall and as DOS is so small it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
--- End quote ---
1. Reformatting sucks. Inconvenient no matter what, especially since DOS requires lots of drivers (like, for every app that needs them, except for mouse. There isn't a hardware access API).
2. DOS exploits? :D
quote:DOS shell was shit there are better multi taskers around
--- End quote ---
There's no hardware memory protection in a 16-bit OS. It's going to suck regardless.
quote:and a DOS extender is a must
--- End quote ---
Not sure what this does. I know some apps would load these to use extended memory, like that thing Quake came with. Is that what you mean?
quote:640k of memory in 64k blocks was shit in 1994 and it's fucking terrible today.
--- End quote ---
I know of 640k memory, but 64k blocks? Always acted like one block to me, with stuff in it. Unless I'm misunderstanding you.
[ August 19, 2004: Message edited by: WMD ]
Aloone_Jonez:
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
How does FreeDOS solve the problems?
--- End quote ---
FreeDOS is faster and more reliable than MS-DOS.
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
1. Reformatting sucks. Inconvenient no matter what, especially since DOS requires lots of drivers (like, for every app that needs them, except for mouse. There isn't a hardware access API).
--- End quote ---
If you can put a full free dos install plus a web browser on a 20MB partition reformating is very quick. If you have a copy of your dos installation plust wen browser on a NTFS drive all you would have to do is reformat your FAT partition and copy your installation to it, and then make it bootable or you could use a boot disk.
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
2. DOS exploits?
--- End quote ---
As DOS can't access your NTFS partition if DOS fucks up it won't fuck your Windows install.
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
There's no hardware memory protection in a 16-bit OS. It's going to suck regardless.
--- End quote ---
True.
But if you run decent software it shouldn't be a problem.
I remember using Win95 in DOS mode because Windows was too unstable, the only problem with DOS is when it fucks up it locks up and you need to reboot. A DOS extender partly will solve this problem too.
DOS EXTENDER
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
Not sure what this does. I know some apps would load these to use extended memory, like that thing Quake came with. Is that what you mean?
--- End quote ---
A DOS extender is a piece of software that can either be add on to your program after it has been compiled or a tsr. A DOS extender allows DOS to run in 32-bit protected mode, its an OS extention that also includes a 32-bit memory manager. Some DOS extenders include Win32 API emulation, this enables 32 bit Windows console programs to be run under plain DOS.
WDOSX
HX DOS extender
quote:Originally posted by WMD:
I know of 640k memory, but 64k blocks? Always acted like one block to me, with stuff in it. Unless I'm misunderstanding you.
--- End quote ---
DOS uses real mode whitch is split up into 64k segments, protected mode can access all the memory as one potentialy 4GB block.
It's getting late and I'm too tired to explain protected/real mode to you, so I hope these links will be of some help to you:
http://www.x86.org/articles/pmbasics/tspec_a1_doc.htm
http://my.execpc.com/~geezer/os/pm.htm
http://www.internals.com/articles/protmode/introduction.htm
[ August 19, 2004: Message edited by: Aloone ]
WMD:
quote:If you can put a full free dos install plus a web browser on a 20MB partition reformating is very quick. If you have a copy of your dos installation plust wen browser on a NTFS drive all you would have to do is reformat your FAT partition and copy your installation to it, and then make it bootable or you could use a boot disk.
--- End quote ---
That's all true, but I'd assume you have some of your own data on there too.
quote:As DOS can't access your NTFS partition if DOS fucks up it won't fuck your Windows install.
--- End quote ---
Not the response I was looking for...I meant, are there any exploits that can actually affect DOS anymore?
quote:A DOS extender is a piece of software that can either be add on to your program after it has been compiled or a tsr. A DOS extender allows DOS to run in 32-bit protected mode, its an OS extention that also includes a 32-bit memory manager. Some DOS extenders include Win32 API emulation, this enables 32 bit Windows console programs to be run under plain DOS.
--- End quote ---
Ok, we're talking about the same thing. Really only that one program runs in protected mode, since it starts when the app does and quits when the app does. That's really all it does, no multitask capability...but RAM was really the problem, so ok.
quote:DOS uses real mode whitch is split up into 64k segments, protected mode can access all the memory as one potentialy 4GB block.
--- End quote ---
When you first mentioned these blocks, I was reminded of DOS's use of upper memory blocks: if you loaded a 40k driver, the whole block was still used. I don't think the conventional memory did that - DOS always treated it like a 640k block, it never had to leave parts empty due to it being blocks. Reason I bring all this up is that you mentioned the 64k blocks as if they caused their own problem. The problem is just 640k vs. all memory.
Predator:
Wow, you guys really know your OSses hey. Is the freedos really better than the original? My basic point about preferring DOS to Windows is that Windows gives you too much crap. All the PCs I have worked on, etc. DOS gave me way less crap than Windows. Any PC that I have to patch up, always a problem caused by Windows.
pandronic:
I was for many years a DOS programmer and actually gave up programming when Winslows came into the scene.
What I liked about DOS was its simplicity ... if you wanted something you had to program it yourself. You didn't have to rely on badly written APIs or be confined by the OS.
I long for the times when one person could write any kind of application. Now, for example, it takes a few hundred people and a budget of a few million bucks just to write crappy 3D games.
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