FreeDOS is an open source operating system that allows you to run applications MS-DOS, despite Microsoft having stopped developing and supporting it more than two decades ago, and the developers have just released the latest update FreeDOS 1.3.
Although there are many ways to run MS-DOS apps on modern hardware using an emulator, FreeDOS it’s a full 16-bit operating system which can be installed on older computers with processors XT, 286 and 386 and newer hardware. This allows both to run old software on modern devices and to resurrect it old hardware with the ability to perform a open source operating system updated and continuously supported while retaining the ability to run applications designed for MS-DOS.
Some practical applications can be running MS-DOS games on a home computer or, and it’s not that uncommon, in a company that continues to use the same accounting software or automation he has used for the past 30 years.
The specifications are from another era. For a basic installation of FreeDos, in fact, you only need 20 MB of disk space, or 275 MB for a full installation including some applications and games.
Changes in the latest version include:
- kernel 2043
- FreeCOM 0.85a (an updated version of the operating system’s command line interface)
- Floppy Edition uses compression, so it can hold half the number of disks
- Network support is back
- Support for multiple games and programs
- Improvements to the installation process
You can find more detailsas well as download links, on the website of FreeDOSand you can see the operating system in action below in a recent video from FreeDOS founder Jim Hall showing the final build of the FreeDOS 1.3 release candidate.
