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Interesting. Remember when, in order to run a DOS application, you had to edit a config file to tell it which graphics card, sound card, serial port, and printe
by bregma 3y ago
Interesting. Remember when, in order to run a DOS application, you had to edit a config file to tell it which graphics card, sound card, serial port, and printer you had? Also, tweak the jumper on the hardware to select which IRQ they used to avoid conflicts?
That was because your application booted the OS out and ran on naked hardware. It was as simple as IRQ 1-2-3, plus Hercules, SoundBlaster, ExpressCard and extended or expanded RAM. And maybe typing ATDT to get the modem's attention.
- uticus 3y agoI think you're confusing what an OS provides with the concept of configuration maintenance, esp "plug and play." Or to make my point more clearly, all the configuration you listed still must be done for an OS by something outside the OS - ie the bootloader (GRUB, etc) or device manager or the like. An OS doesn't magically make configuration for different hardware unnecessary; indeed it doesn't even handle such configuration. > ... and ran on naked hardware. Not quite, drivers are still involved. An OS may load drivers, expose a facade for drivers, or even abstract whole layers of driver subroutines. But it isn't like it's a choice of either OS or bitbang the hardware.
- nsguy 3y agoDOS had nothing to do with graphics and sound. All that was at the application level. DOS provided the command line (your shell), the filesystem, and a few basic abstractions. Generally speaking applications didn't boot the OS out since they still used it to access files etc.