|
Click here if you want to learn more about why many people hate Microsoft so much First of all MS-DOS is not dead. It won't be for a long time. Not only is it necessary for the older games you might own that refuse to cooperate with Windows, but it is an ideal platform for utility programs. A perfect example is Powerquest's Partition Magic. Although it installs in Windows (and other operating systems) it runs in MS-DOS mode. In the unlikely event that Microsoft were to fold, there are other versions of DOS out there -- IBM's PC-DOS and Caldera's DR-DOS are two of them. And linux comes with a dosemu program to run DOS applications Microsoft no doubt upset many a programmer when they came out with Windows-95. Programmers had learned all kinds of tricks as to how to exploit the intricacies of DOS, and even overcame the 640k barrier in new ways (the DOS-4GW extended memory manager), when Microsoft decided to junk the old operating system. Naturally, game programmers howled in protest, so now we have MS-DOS mode in both Windows-95 and 98. Frankly, I think they blew it when they made that decision. Instead, they should have used the solution used by BOTH NT and OS/2 -- make the decision at startup whether to boot the old DOS or the new Windows. Not only would that have made it easier to use DOS programs in Windows-95, but it would have ultimately made Windows-95/98 more stable, because it would not have to carry around a lot of extra baggage just in case the user decided to shut down to MS-DOS mode What about ME? Windows Millennium doesn't have an MS-DOS mode. As for sound support, you may need updated drivers from the manufacturer of your sound card to replace those shipped with ME. There is still a DOS window, but if the program is non-compliant (and many are) there is no such thing as restarting in MS-DOS mode -- the only option is to boot to a floppy. Unless you're a serious photo-editing buff or movie creator I quite frankly see no justification to the new OS. (And if you are you'd probably want to at least look at the Apple Power-Macintosh before you buy.) If you're a serious user, you'd probably prefer 2000. And if you just want something for the kids, 98 should fit the bill. This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down How can I get my mouse, CDROM and sound card to work with DOS? What is the DOS compatibility of various versions of Windows? Backing up the ability to boot Windows 9X and NT |