2,963 bytes added,
13:20, 5 March 2015 MS-DOS or MSDOS - MicroSoft Disk Operating System
Microsoft founder Bill Gates acquired a Personal Computer Disk Operating System by indirect means from developer Gary Kildall. Kildall is the creator of Control Program for Microcomputers (CP/M), the operating system used on many of the early personal computers. Microsoft's QDOS, and subsequently MS-DOS is speculated to have been directly copied from [[CP/M]].
MS-DOS is the most well known and widely used disk operating system for the personal computer. MS-DOS has been though a number of versions and under different release names. In 2000 Microsoft claims to have ceased all development of MS-DOS in favor of its elimination from their graphical user interface product Microsoft Windows. Yet the claim may be false, as the Windows Kernel, even to this day, still contains legacy original MS-DOS code. That code has been patched to being serviceable on new processor types.
MS-DOS versions 6.0 and 6.22 remain available for download via their MSDN, volume license, and OEM license partner websites, for customers with valid login credentials. Version 6.22 was the last official release of MS-DOS by Microsoft in 1994. In 1995 Microsoft escalated an anti-competitive practice forcing computer manufacturers to lock in licenses to prevent competing operating systems from being used. In 1991, the U.S. government Federal Trade Commission began investigating Microsoft's licensing procedures, resulting in a 1994 settlement agreement limiting Microsoft to per-copy licensing.
MS-DOS commands since version 5.0 were divided into internal and external types. The internal commands reside in COMMAND.COM, which loads into memory when the computer system is started; these commands do not reside on disk. The external commands are files that do reside on disk and have an extension of .COM, .EXE, or .BAT. Both command types are executed from the MS-DOS prompt.
=== internal commands ===
BREAK
CALL
CHCP
CHDIR(CD)
CLS
COPY
CTTY
DATE
DEL(ERASE)
DIR
ECHO
EXIT
FOR
GOTO
IF
MKDIR(MD)
PATH
PAUSE
PROMPT
REM
RENAME(REN)
RMDIR(RD)
SET
SHIFT
TIME
TYPE
VER
VERIFY
VOL
=== external commands ===
APPEND.EXE
ASSIGN.COM
ATTRIB.EXE
BACKUP.EXE
CHKDSK.EXE
COMMAND.COM
COMP.EXE
DEBUG.EXE
DISKCOMP.COM
DISKCOPY.COM
DOSKEY.COM
DOSSHELL.COM
EDIT.COM
EDLIN.EXE
EMM386.EXE
EXE2BIN.EXE
EXPAND.EXE
FASTOPEN.EXE
FC.EXE
FDISK.EXE
FORMAT.COM
GRAFTABLE.COM
GRAPHICS.COM
HELP.EXE
JOIN.EXE
KEYB.COM
LABEL.EXE
MEM.EXE
MIRROR.COM
MODE.COM
MORE.COM
NLSFUNC.EXE
PRINT.EXE
QBASIC.EXE
RECOVER.EXE
REPLACE.EXE
RESTORE.EXE
SETVER.EXE
SHARE.EXE
SORT.EXE
SUBST.EXE
SYS.COM
TREE.COM
UNDELETE.EXE
UNFORMAT.COM
XCOPY.EXE
[[Category:Computer Technology]]
[[Category:Microsoft]]
[[Category:DOS]]
[[Category:MSDOS]]