Doctor DOS Betamax's

DOS FALLACIES

NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE MAY BE REPRODUCED
WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR ©

• 1/  Those Using DOS Exclusively are Luddites.   This popular misconception comes from the wrong idea that DOS has never progressed beyond a simple text interface. Hobbyists of classic computers aside, modern DOS users are far from being Luddites. They too, want the latest capabilities being used by others to be available with their chosen operating system. Today's DOS user wants a speedy hard drive, fast & capable video, quick communications and the latest software.
  
      He or she uses DOS because of a preference for having the great power and unpretentiousness of this established and stable operating system. The direct access that DOS provides is desired along with the complete control it affords, but without the hand-holding and excessive supervision so prevalent in other systems.
  
  
  
• 2/  DOS is Dead.   If this is true, why do so many modern operating system either come with DOS, have a DOS-style command interface, or provide a DOS emulator? By itself, DOS is available from a variety of manufacturers not bundled with any other operating system. The latest FreeDOS update was in 2022, and the date of SvarDOS' most recent update is 2023\02. Although older, 4DOS 8.0 (2009) and DR-DOS 7.01.08 upgrade (2011) are still completely usable. (Note that "DR-DOS" is pronounced "Dee-Arr DOS".)
  
  
  
• 3/  DOS is Obsolete.   This is a ploy by computer companies to make you spend money to switch to their systems. Unknown to many computer users, DOS has continued to be developed. Myriads applications are available to do the latest computing assignments, as are updates to DOS and its utilities. Companies other than Microsoft continue to market new, modern versions of DOS. As mentioned in Fallacy #2, major operating systems either include, or have available, DOS or a DOS emulator: Linux, Macintosh, OS/2, Unix and Windows. In particular, users of Microsoft's Windows can use the included DOS-style command line to automate Windows functions.
  
  
  
• 4/  DOS is Slow.   This seems to come from those persons that only ever used DOS on older, slower computers. Regardless, DOS is much faster than a GUI (Graphic User Interface) on an equivalent system. This is because without all those icons and excessive colour depth to describe, it occupies a smaller amount of RAM and requires much less processing power to do the same job. As a consequence, it also takes up far less room on your hard drive. DOS programmers tend to try to condense their code, in part so their programs will run quickly on older computers with older DOS versions. All of this means a system that runs very fast, and ultra fast on recent processors.
  
  
  
• 5/  DOS Users Can't Run Programs Larger than 640K (655,360 bytes).   Many DOS programs have long been able to make use of Upper Memory along with Expanded & Extended memory. Two of the best known ones to first do so were Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect. All newer, major programs are designed to make use of memory outside of the lower, 640K range.
  
  
  
• 6/  DOS Users Can't Load More Programs into Memory than will fit into 640K (655,360 bytes).   This is related to Fallacy #5, above, and has to do with loading programs at startup so they are at the ready when a DOS user needs them. By using DOS' RAM drive capability, one may set aside an area of memory in which to place programs. Although these programs are not active, they are in memory and can be made active in milliseconds due to the speed at which memory operates.
  
      Another typical purpose is to have overlays, library files, batch files, etc. on the RAM drive so they are instantly accessible. In operation, it is indistinguishable from a multitasking setup except that the programs do not operate at exactly the same time. (See Fallacies #7 and #8, next.)
  
  
  
• 7/  DOS Programs are Limited and Can Only Run in Real Mode.   The DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) allows programs that have been designed to do so, to run in protected mode. This allows them to access more than 1 Mb of RAM, and thus removes any memory limitations. It also allows multiple programs to be run simultaneously.
  
  
  
• 8/  Only One Program at a Time May Be Used.   This is related to Fallacies #5, #6 and #7, above.
  
      First, one may run as many programs as can fit into 640K (655,360 bytes) and access them through each program's "Suspend" capability.
  
      Second, any program that makes use of Expanded and\or Extended memory can typically be run in tandem with other programs. This is the case for most all modern DOS programs. These run in protected mode using Extended Memory, as do programs of other operating systems.
  
      Third, there are shell, or stand-alone task switcher programs and multi-taskers that allow as many applications of any type to be run as there is total available memory. These have been available since the 1980s.
  
      Last, there are DOS versions available that do true multitasking.
  
  
  
• 9/  DOS is Limited to 16-Bit Programs.   DOS can run 32-bit programs because these programs are isolated from the 16-bit operating system. They are designed to run in protected mode via the "DOS Protected Mode Interface" (DPMI) or other similar interfaces. This bridges the 16/32 bit systems by operating as 32-bit within the program, but operating as 16-bit when DOS operations are required, then switching back to 32 bit for program operations. Thus, they run as do programs under other operating systems and they can run in Extended Memory. This switching between modes is seamless to the user.
  
      In addition, there is `fdpp'(*), a 64-bit DOS core based upon a FreeDOS kernel. (*) FreeDOS++.
  
  
  
• 10/  DOS Can't Handle Long File Names.   DOS 95 and newer can handle long file names, and for those with other versions, LFN interfaces are available or are built in. Before that, WordPerfect could handle internally-generated long file names at least since version 5.1 which was released in 1990. Even before that, after-market programs allowed DOS itself to use and recognise long file names.
  
      However, in a command-line setup, few want to use too long a file name because of the extra typing involved. Also, directory listings must be in a single column or, if in multiple columns, not show all file information due to the room required to display just the file names. Regardless, long file name capability is available to users of older DOS versions as discussed above, and major new versions of DOS support long file names.
  
  
  
• 11/  DOS Can't Handle Spaces in File Names.   While this is generally true, as above, one could use an LFN driver.
  
      However, DOS has always been able to put one or more spaces into a file name -- as long as it is an ASCII space. This is done by typing the file name, and then where a space is required, push Alt+255. The number must be entered via the number pad, and the file name overall must adhere to the size dictated by your DOS version. For the latter, this usually means eight characters followed by a dot and a three-character extension. (The extension may be eliminated within some purposes.)
  
      Please note that using an ASCII space may not be recognised by some programs, and in addition, whenever the name is typed, one must use Alt+255 to make that space. Also realise that some DOS versions require one to push Ctrl+Alt+255.
  
  
  
• 12/  The DOS Command Line is Limited to 127 Characters.   This is true for older versions of DOS, although there are ways to increase that for certain purposes using after-market utilities such as XSET. Newer versions of DOS, though, support longer lines. This extends to the PATH statement and batch files. As an example, 4DOS can handle lengths of 511 characters. Also, by placing the PATH statement into CONFIG.sys, newer DOS versions allow lengths up to the limit of memory.
  
  
  
• 13  No New Stand-Alone Versions of DOS have come out Since 1994.   No new Microsoft stand-alone versions have come out since 1994. Many other individuals and companies have brought out new DOSes and upgrades for them in the ensuing years. Versions or updates of 4DOS and DR-DOS were released in the 20-0s. The newest FreeDOS version came out in 2022, and SvarDOS in 2023. (Note that "DR-DOS" is pronounced "Dee-Arr DOS".)
  
  
  
• 14/  No One is Developing New Programs for DOS.   Hmm, odd then how I have Compact Disc and Media Players, a Graphic Internet Browser, USB Flash Drives, recent program updates, PC-Card services on my laptop, and recent utilities and drivers. Yes, programmers still write for DOS because it's often easier to do than for equivalent GUI operating systems, and because DOS is so flexible. In addition, there are industrial software setups that use DOS.
  
  
  
• 15/  DOS is Hard to Learn.   Basic DOS is easy to learn. GUI promoters want you to believe its hard. An operating system is meant to interface the user with the computer. Included in this are program starting and directory maintenance, along with file creation, deletion and moving/copying. To start a program, type its name. To make a directory, use the "Make Directory" command, which has been conveniently abbreviated to "MD". Removing a directory means using the "Remove Directory" command, again abbreviated (RD).
  
      To copy a file, use COPY, to move a file use MOVE. A file's attributes are added, removed or changed using the "Attribute" (ATTRIB) command; two files may be compared using the "File Compare" command (FC); to find a file containing specific text, use FIND, and so on. To create or change a file, use the DOS editor called -- guess what? EDIT! Could it be any more logical and simple?
  
  
  
• 16/  There's Too Much Typing in DOS.   There can be, but I am amazed that these same complainers are quite willing to text dozens of messages to someone's phone instead of leaving a voice message, or type a two-screen e-mail to a co-worker seated only a few metres away.
  
      In DOS, batch files and keyboard macros eliminate most typing. There are also programs that allow usage of a pointer device such as a track ball, touch pad, light pen, graphics tablet, or mouse to run the commands without one having to type them.
  
      Even at the command line, one may use the ` * ' and ` ? ' wildcards to reduce typing. Plus, there are versions of DOS that will auto-complete file and directory names, and there are utilities and upgrades for those using versions without that capability. Many of these have a feature named "Command Recall", or similar. It allows one to select from a list of previously-typed commands, or to type the first few letters and allow the program to auto-complete the rest. There are even utilities that allow one to move around the directory tree at the command line without typing anything!
  
      Finally, a DOS accessory allows a user to highlight and copy on-screen text into an area of memory called the "Clipboard", and then retrieve it for later usage. As an example. one might display a directory listing, enter "CD", then highlight the directory name with the mouse. One click copies the name to the clipboard and another click deposits that directory name on to the command line. Pressing "Enter" changes to the selected directory. Commands to run DOS or any of its programs may be copied to the command line in the same way and be run with no name or command typing involved. In addition, the clipboard text may be inserted into, and passed among, programs.
  
  
  
• 17/  DOS Users Must Remember Complicated Commands and Syntax.   This is related to #14 and #15 above. Yes, users have to remember some commands and their structure, but users of any operating system have to learn and remember how it works. Regardless, in DOS, the basic commands are intuitive, as was described in #14, and they work in the same manner as with point & click menu interfaces. Thus for either method, to do a typical file copy or move operation, one must know or locate the source drive and directory, know or figure out which operation to select, and know or locate the target drive and directory.
  
      For those that dislike the command line, DOS authors offer many GUI desktops and file managers from which to choose. Of course, using one supplants the power of the command line, the very reason of DOS' popularity for many. Then again, one could use the command line for most operations and the GUI interface for when it provides a clear advantage. As well, some GUI desktops allow one to enter commands into a box without leaving that desktop.
  
  
  
• 18/  DOS Users are Stuck with a Bland Black & White Desktop.   DOS, using ANSI.sys or equivalent after-market replacements, can easily be programmed for colour and on-screen menu-window setups. There are dozens of menu and desktop programs available if one wishes to dress up DOS beyond ANSI.sys capabilities. This includes the display of background images.
  
  
  
• 19/  Newer Printers and Modems are not able to be Used.   There are Internet sites that have drivers available for recent hardware. In fact, some manufacturers' sites will provide them.
  
  
  
• 20/  DOS Does Not Support Large Hard Drives.   This is mainly a BIOS problem. Newer ones support larger drives if they show a setting for "LBA" (Logical Block Addressing). Although older DOS versions also imposed a limitation, starting with MS-DOS 5 (1991), support for drives larger than 528 megabytes was introduced. As well, after-market programs allowed for use of multi-gig drives with older BIOS and DOS versions. Versions of DOS since the late 1990s offer multi-gig drive capability built right in.
  
      There is also a limitation imposed by the DOS file system. FAT 16 imposes a limit of just over 2 Gigabytes. Although DOS users can get around that by partitioning, DOS versions since the late 1990s support FAT 32 which allows drives in the Terabyte range.
  
  
  
• 21/  DOS Cannot Multitask.   In one sense, DOS has multitasked from the beginning. It is searching and writing in the background while the user or a program is doing something else. However, to most users, "multitasking" means running more than one program at a time and having more than one actively working at the same time.
  
      In this sense, DOS could actually multitask before Windows via DOS extender technology. In fact, when Microsoft put multitasking capability into Windows, they used DOS extenders to do it! They did not put that capability into their MS-DOS, presumably so as to not compete with Windows.
  
      As for DOS itself, Concurrent DOS from Digital Research and DOS 4 (Europe release) featured multitasking, but the latter was not marketed in North America. Today's latest versions allow true multitasking from within DOS. In addition, programs such as DESQview and SWORD allow most any DOS system to multitask. However, since one can only input data or interact with one program at a time, most "multitasking" is really about having programs at the ready in memory, which DOS is capable of anyway. To that end, there have been programs available since the 1980s that allow task switching by DOS. "Software Carousel" and "Back & Forth" come to mind.
  
  
  
• 22/  DOS Can't Display More than 16-Colour Images.   This is one of the harder fallacies to overcome in people's minds. Most DOS versions place colour on the screen through ANSI.SYS or equivalent, and those colours are limited to 16 shades at any one time. Now, these 16 colours may be selected from a larger palette (typically 256 colours), so that DOS users may choose which 16 shades to use. That capability is available through after-market programs or is built into some versions of DOS.
  
      Regardless, this is only for the DOS display itself. If a user has a shell, or any other DOS program, it may be, and often is, written to display a wider colour range. These programs will present themselves, or any graphic image, in the colour depth of which that program is designed, and of which the video card and monitor are capable. Thus, DOS users can see a 24-bit (~=16 million colours) picture on their screens, if the video system is capable. Some can display up to 32-bit targa (.tga) very high quality graphics, which are suitable for large-scale photo reproduction.
  
  
  
• 23/  DOS Cannot Do Graphic Work. or DOS is Text Only.   This fallacy probably came about because either people were used to seeing DOS on slow, memory-lacking systems, and/or people assumed that not much could be done with graphics in the 640K (655,360 bytes) of RAM limit. However, DOS graphic applications are written to place the program kernel in lower memory while overlay and image files are placed into expanded or extended memory. Others are 32-bit, protected-mode programs that run in extended memory. There are many DOS Viewer, Image Manipulation, Paint, and CAD (Computer Assisted Design) softwares available. Modern, fast computers make DOS graphics a reality, just as they do for other major operating systems.
  
  
  
• 24/  DOS Cannot Do Multimedia.   This is related to Fallacies #20 & #21. DOS multimedia programs are available that can do animations and audio. Many can run media presentations from other systems such as MacIntosh and Windows. The best of these programs use 32-bit, Protected Mode and thus, can run in extended memory. This is best for resource-hungry presentations such as MPEGs and AVIs.
  
  
  
• 25/  DOS Users Can't Access More Than 64 Mb of RAM.   There have been memory extenders around for over a decade. They allow DOS applications to access gigabytes of memory, although for most users, 64 Mb will run 10 or 15 applications easily because DOS programs are so much smaller than their GUI equivalents.
  
  
  
• 26/  DOS is Not Y2K Compliant.   I suspect this was started by computer companies and perpetuated by computer sales stores in order to get people to spend money to upgrade. Computer companies certainly had time to fix the problem, but software as late as 1998 still had not been changed.
  
      Regardless, modern DOS is Y2K compliant. However, please realise that older DOS versions are actually not affected by Y2K problems -- if one uses four-digit years. I have not checked every DOS version, but there does not seem to be a problem with any one with which I have come in contact, nor is it with most programs I use -- and some are as old as the early 1990s. According to Microsoft's DOS manuals, using a four-digit year allows dates through 2079 for MS-DOS versions 3.x & 4.x, and through 2099 for Microsoft versions 5 & up. It appears that at least PC and DR DOS follow this as well. In 2100, the last year of this century, I am sure some enterprising DOS user will have authored a Y2.1K patch. (-:
  
      The only difficulty seems to be with those few programs that keep track of the year using just two place positions. They were programmed to add "1" to the last two digits of the previous year's date on January 1st. Thus December 31, 1999, which showed as "12-31-99", became "01-01-100" on January 1st, 2000. Since there were only two place positions available for the year, it was truncated to "10". ProComm Plus by Datastorm Technologies exhibits this. Even so, it does not affect the running of the program at all, and files created under it show the correct year in a DOS "DIR" listing .
  
      Some other exceptions are the MS-DOS BACKUP command and XCOPY. The former does not recognise dates after 1999 as being in this century. So a file created in 1991 will have the same file name as one created in 2001. This can be gotten around by simply placing backup files in separate "Year" directories, which is a good practice anyway. As for XCOPY, it won't recognise dates that the user inputs if they are before 1980 or after 1999. (This is likely not a problem with newer XCOPY versions.) In addition, one could use REPLACE which can recognise newer files regardless of the date format used, or use the modern, after-market version of XCOPY: XXCOPY.
  
      Any of you who are suffering with old dates because your DOS version does not have Y2K compliancy built in, or are trying to lessen the confusion by using a pre-2000 year (such as 1996, which was the last 20th-century year to coincide with the 2024 calendar), simply invoke the DOS "DATE" command and enter the current month, day, and four-digit year. With few exceptions, you'll be home, free!
  
  
  
• 27/  DOS Can't Do GUI.   DOS is a TUI (Text User Interface) system, so by nature, it doesn't interface with computer programs via point & click. However, that's not to say that someone using DOS cannot interface via GUI (Graphic User Interface). DOS graphic shells have been around since the mid 1980s for those that want the advantages of the command line but may still wish to click icons to get some computer work done. In fact, the most famous graphic shell for DOS was Windows. One of the most sophisticated is SWORD.
  
  
  
• 28/  One Can't Access The Graphic Internet with DOS.   There have been DOS graphic browsers since the mid 1990s, with Arachne probably being the best of them. DOS users may access The Internet via dial-up, cable modem, or high-speed wireless, and with features including add-ons and plug-ins.
  
  
  
• 29/  The DOS Screen is Stuck with That One IBM VGA Font.   DOS users can select from scores of different fonts supplied by a variety of applications. A simple program loads the font at bootup or from the command line. DOS users have had this capability for over a decade. There is even a program that allows multiple fonts on the DOS screen at the same time.
  
  
  
• 30/  I have a Card Bus Slot on my Laptop which DOS doesn't Support   PC-Card (PCMCIA) slots for DOS have been supported by card manufacturers since their inception and DOS versions such as PC-DOS 7.0 include card bus support. One need only load the drivers to access memory, modem, network and other card features. For users of different DOS versions, drivers are available from the card manufacturers and third-party suppliers. (Note that some drivers require a specific memory location. If you can't get card services to work, read the driver manual and pay attention to the instructions regarding memory.)
  
  
• 31/  Hardware has Adopted the USB Standard, Which DOS Can't Support.   One only needs a computer that is USB (Universal Serial Bus) capable and suitable DOS USB drivers to be able to operate USB devices under DOS. This is no different from any other operating system.
  
  
• 32/  DOS is Unable to Connect to Wireless Networks.   As above, all that is needed is the proper card, such as a WaveLAN or ORiNOCO card, and suitable drivers and software in order for DOS to be able to connect to a wireless network. This has been available for almost two decades.
  
  
• 33/  DOS Can't Display Modern Characters.   This is mainly related to the "Euro" currency symbol, but applies to others. PC-DOS 2000, DR-DOS 7.02, and other new versions of DOS are "Euro" compatible. For those with older versions, drivers are available that will allow DOS programs to display it and other symbols.
  
  
• 34/  DOS Users Can't Copy/Cut & Paste at the Command Line or Between Applications.   One only need get a console program that has a DOS Clipboard to enable copy/cut & paste. ANSIPLUS is one such software. Using any pointer device, one highlights a word, line or even a block of text. One click places it on to the DOS clipboard. As mentioned in #15 farther back, a usage for this might be to place a DOS or program command, or a name from a directory listing onto the command line or into a program instead of typing it out.
  
      As an example at the command line might be to copy a long command that could be brought up at the touch of a button rather than dealing with the command history. Another example is if one wants to paste a URL from a text file on one's computer into an e-mail. Highlight the URL, invoke the Copy-to-Clipboard command, open an e-mail program and invoke the Paste command.
  
  
• 35/  DOS is Case Insensitive.   This is mostly true, but not universally. Of course, case insensitivity can be handy when one does not know the exact case of a file or directory or name. Regardless, some DOS versions and programs are case sensitive at certain times. The IF command is case sensitive, although in some DOS versions, this may be turned off. ANSI.sys codes are case sensitive. The variable designation in the FOR command can be upper or lower case but must be the same case within a given FOR operation. The CHOICE command's choices are case sensitive when the `/S' switch is used. SET will make environmental variables in upper and/or lower case as typed at the command line or as directed in a batch file. The FIND command is case sensitive unless the `/I' (Ignore Case) switch is used. 4DOS' "@REPLACE" and "@STRIP" are case sensitive. Its FFIND is not case sensitive but is if the `/C' switch is used.
  
      Some DOS programs are case sensitive at times. As an example, a few of PKZIP's command-line switches change meaning depending on whether they are capitalised or not. The `t' and `T' switches come to mind.
  
  
• 36/  I Require a Recycle Bin Which DOS Doesn't Provide.   DOS had a Recycle Bin before Windows. DR-DOS called it "Delete Watch", while MS-DOS had "Delete Sentry". As with a Recycle Bin, files are not deleted but are moved to a hidden directory and kept as per default or user settings.
  
  
• 37/  The DOS Batch Language is Brain Dead.   As with so much else regarding modern DOS, the DOS batch language has continued to be developed. Even Microsoft has improved the DOS batch language, although for DOS only as it runs under Windows and for the Command Line Interface under the NT series of Windows. DR-DOS has had better batch file commands than Microsoft's DOS since at least version DR-DOS 6, which was released in 1991. 4DOS has had improved batch file commands since at least the mid 1990s. The most recent version has a myriad of new commands, switches, and internal functions that allow the user to do very complicated DOS chores that were once only the realm of higher programming languages.
  
      For DOS itself, all new versions have updated batch commands and features. Plus, many third-party software authors have improved upon the batch language. As well, many of them have also devised batch utilities to further extend DOS' automation capabilities.
  
  
• 38/  Hardware Power Management is Unavailable to DOS Users.   DOS long ago had the "POWER" command which was designed to conserve laptop battery life. It is rarely used today because modern laptops have power management built in. That aside, programs such as ANSIPLUS can use VESA management to shut down monitors, but again it is not as necessary today because even desktop computers have built-in power management. For those that want software management, there are after-market programs besides those just mentioned that can give DOS users power management.
  
  
• 39/  DOS has no Security.   While not at the level of Unix, DOS has security available. One is data encryption, which has been around since the early days of DOS. Another is password protection. This is done either through after-market programs or directly within versions such as DR-DOS 6 and higher. It offers protection of files, directories, or complete drives. This can be structured to allow only certain users access to certain files, directories or drives -- or to an entire system.
  
  
• 40/  DOS Can Only Deal with the Global Environment.   It is possible for DOS users to save an environment and then set up another one for a task or series of operations, then to restore the original environment. That can all be written into a batch file. However programs such as XSET, a replacement for the DOS "SET" command, have built-in methods that can be used to manipulate the environment to achieve the same end.
  
      A more powerful method is to employ 4DOS's "SETLOCAL". It remembers more than just environment settings. It includes current disk drive and path, aliases, and many other parameters. Values can be changed and then restored to their original values with "ENDLOCAL".
  
  
• 41/  DOS users Cannot Have a Mouse Cursor on a Text Screen.   DOS users can't have a graphic cursor on a text screen. Instead, a block cursor can be implemented via programs such as ANSIPLUS.