Op 7-6-2011 20:05, Willi Wasser schreef: > I really didn't expect to trigger so much controversy with my initial > questions. And i found it interesting to learn that companies like HP and > DELL still offer DOS. But if one takes a closer look, it becomes soon clear, > that DOS for them is more like the "compact spare wheel" of modern cars than > a crucial part of the whole system. Even for those manufacturers one finds > when google-ing for "embedded DOS", the systems they still deliver with DOS > are the lower ends of their product lines with LINUX making up the upper end. > All this confirms my opinion that nowadays there ist not "much money inside > DOS" anymore. This doesn't necessarily degrade DOS as an operating system but > it should be taken into account whenever talking about licensing issues. >
As Tom already mentioned, FreeDOS is usually included (typically on the support CD) as an 'in-your-face' towards Microsoft with their 'every PC has to be sold with an OS'. It might also be convenient on the boot CD as a means to create F6 disk for Windows, or for copying files or starting non-live backup programs. However with the move of motherboard companies as well as BIOS writers AMI and Award/Phoenix towards EFI/UEFI instead of BIOS, these practices will likely come to an end. On the bright side, it seems CoreBoot is starting to support more and more platforms (especially with AMD opening up support), with the effect of for example the Asrock M35 Fusion motherboard being able to run an opensource hardware initialisation platform. Add to that SeaBIOS (opensource BIOS, nowadays used by default in QEMU, likely also XEN in a while) and you have a DOS compatible platform again. Even better yet, a FreeDOS floppy image can be added to Coreboot/SeaBIOS, which means you're running a platform with embedded (rescue) operating system in 4 megabytes (32mbit) flash chip. The problem ofcourse is getting a more powerful/modern operating system on a internet-connected yet stand-alone machine. Resorting to making USB sticks bootable (any 100% way to do so?) and testing them, or getting SATA optical drives is such a burden. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EditLive Enterprise is the world's most technically advanced content authoring tool. Experience the power of Track Changes, Inline Image Editing and ensure content is compliant with Accessibility Checking. http://p.sf.net/sfu/ephox-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
