3 ms·

What other DOSs? I know of DR-DOS, but not any others. Also, not sure, but I think MS-DOS was the biggest from pretty soon after it was created. I'm not even su

by vram22 10y ago

What other DOSs? I know of DR-DOS, but not any others. Also, not sure, but I think MS-DOS was the biggest from pretty soon after it was created. I'm not even sure that DOS was their main product (though it was a big one). I had read the book Le Noveaux Magiciens, about Microsoft, and though I don't remember the chronology now, IIRC, language products were also big for them, like BASICs for various platforms. They even had an MS-C (used it for a product) and MS-Pascal and MS-Lisp. Could be wrong about languages being big earners for them, though.

lovemenot 10y ago
There were a few : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_DOS_operating_systems https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_DOS_operating_sy... I recall Amstrad in UK had its own DOS in the early 1990s. They had to declare MS compatibility, which supports your view of MS already being dominant. I also don't remember much before 1989, but I believe the languages business was earlier and more niche. Ever read Gates' 1976 rant about hobbyists ripping him off? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists
- caf 10y ago
  There were other DOSs, but even by 1989 the use of unqualified "DOS" was usually taken to mean "IBM-compatible PC running MS-DOS" (eg. "Our school has both Apple and DOS computers in the library").
- grkvlt 10y ago
  > Amstrad in UK had its own DOS I remember my PC-1512 (XT clone with 512 Kb RAM, two 5.25" floppies and a mono CGA monitor) and it came with MS-DOS 3.x and DR-DOS boot floppies and also included the GEM window manager. I believe the version of DR-DOS used could also run CP/M 86 executables as well as normal DOS programs.
- vram22 10y ago
  Interesting that there were so many DOSes. Yes, I had read his rant, I think it was originally to members of the Homebrew Computer Club, maybe paraphrased, in Steven Levy's book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution", some years ago. Pretty interesting book, though I guess Levy may have hyped it up some for sales. Still remember about (Peter?) Deutsch, a lot of stuff about GNU, Lisp and Emacs development (some of the most interesting parts of the book), milliblatts, TECO and many other topics .... :) And my favorite slogan of all from the book, "Tools to make tools" :)

by vram22 10y ago

lovemenot 10y ago

There were a few : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_DOS_operating_systems https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_DOS_operating_sy... I recall Amstrad in UK had its own DOS in the early 1990s. They had to declare MS compatibility, which supports your view of MS already being dominant. I also don't remember much before 1989, but I believe the languages business was earlier and more niche. Ever read Gates' 1976 rant about hobbyists ripping him off? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists

caf 10y ago
There were other DOSs, but even by 1989 the use of unqualified "DOS" was usually taken to mean "IBM-compatible PC running MS-DOS" (eg. "Our school has both Apple and DOS computers in the library").
grkvlt 10y ago
> Amstrad in UK had its own DOS I remember my PC-1512 (XT clone with 512 Kb RAM, two 5.25" floppies and a mono CGA monitor) and it came with MS-DOS 3.x and DR-DOS boot floppies and also included the GEM window manager. I believe the version of DR-DOS used could also run CP/M 86 executables as well as normal DOS programs.
vram22 10y ago
Interesting that there were so many DOSes. Yes, I had read his rant, I think it was originally to members of the Homebrew Computer Club, maybe paraphrased, in Steven Levy's book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution", some years ago. Pretty interesting book, though I guess Levy may have hyped it up some for sales. Still remember about (Peter?) Deutsch, a lot of stuff about GNU, Lisp and Emacs development (some of the most interesting parts of the book), milliblatts, TECO and many other topics .... :) And my favorite slogan of all from the book, "Tools to make tools" :)