Dec 25, 2020 09:00:00

A fierce man who made his own multitasking DOS that runs on the browser appears

Jeff Parsons, who publishes an IBM PC emulator that runs on a browser, looks back on the history of IBM PC , which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2021, and has also released his own multitasking OS ' BASIC-DOS '. ..

PC DOS Reimagined | PCjs Machines
https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2020/12/22/

Preview | BASIC-DOS
https://basicdos.com/preview/

The IBM PC was equipped with the OS ' PC DOS ' developed by Microsoft. Commands such as 'DIR', 'TIME', and 'TYPE' that have been installed since the initial version of PC DOS can still be used at the Windows command prompt.

PC DOS was an OS that changed only the name of MS-DOS developed by Microsoft, but IBM's unique functions will be gradually added. Demand for multitasking increased in the late 1980s, and MS-DOS version 4 released in 1986 implemented multitasking, but not PC DOS, which emphasizes backward compatibility. ..

Since IBM PCs had a large share at the time, many third-party software such as

DoubleDOS and DESQview were born to enable multitasking on PC DOS. The advertisement at the time of DoubleDOS's launch emphasized the ability to add multitasking capabilities to IBM PCs without adding hardware or changing software.

IBM jointly developed an OS '

OS / 2 ' that supports multitasking operation with Microsoft, but sales did not increase due to incompatibility with PC DOS, and the version released in 2002 The last update to 4.52 was stopped.

Mr. Parsons thought, 'What kind of OS would have been possible if Microsoft and IBM had a stronger partnership and developed PC DOS that supports multitasking?' Mr. Parsons made his own OS 'BASIC-DOS' that supports multitasking operation And it is open to the public .

Finally, Parsons said, 'BASIC-DOS is outdated software, but being able to work on this interesting project is a good memory of 2020.'