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Can this be used as a modern OS?


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#1 Stroyed

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 02:41 AM

It may be a stupid question, but I'm curious. Can FreeDos function like a modern operating system, just without the graphical interface. More specifically, can I put it on a hard drive and have it boot up as the OS whenever I start the computer, can it run 64-bit programs, and can it us Wi-Fi or Ethernet? I'm asking because I'm thinking of designing a custom PC build that caters to nostalgia junkies.



#2 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 02:58 AM

Define modern.....

 

Yes, it can function with only a CLI interface.

 

Yes, you can install it to a drive and use it as your main OS.

 

x64 programs: To my knowledge, no.

 

Ethernet: Yes, I do believe it supports this functionality as-is.

 

Wi-Fi: Maybe but probably not, depends on your specific WLAN device, availability of DOS-specific drivers for it, and whether FreeDOS supports your device.

 

If your customers are really that nostalgic, then they are probably knowledgeable enough to install it themselves. For personal use, I think you can do much better for a modern OS, like Linux. I play around with DOS a bit, but it's just out of curiosity, it will never be my main OS.



#3 Stroyed

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 04:00 AM

Well I don't run a business, I just like to design PCs for fun. And by modern, I mean run newer programs like Steam and such. But now that I think about it, the GUI would be a problem. I was basically thinking of buying an old PC from the 90s, hollowing it out, fill it with gaming hardware, somehow get a 1080p, 120hz monitor in there, and then have a DOS like OS that can run newer programs like, as I said before, Steam so they can have the benefits of today, and the feel of yesterday.



#4 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 05:02 AM

I highly doubt that Steam would run on DOS, or any other adaptation of it. I use Steam alot. Steam is 32 bit, not 64 bit, but of course it runs on 32 bit and 64 bit PCs. Maybe I'm wrong, but DOS doesn't have support for 32 bit executables, I'm certain of that.

 

A better bet, just use DOSBox to play DOS games. Or you can install FreeDOS in a virtual machine, it should be able to play any DOS game out there just fine. Getting FreeDOS running perfectly on real hardware will probably be a challenge.



#5 Stroyed

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 03:48 PM

Ok. Thanks for the info. :)



#6 wendy

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Posted 21 March 2017 - 10:32 AM

You can still use DOS in a restricted environment, or where no fancy overheads are needed.

 

We were still trudging around using MS-DOS 6.0 diskettes to load ghost for windows nt, because until bartpe and vista, there really was no such thing as a windows boot diskette.  These were at a minimum 77 mb, so they were still worse than the dos boot diskette + cdrom with the image on it.


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#7 Bob Klahn

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Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:11 AM

You can still use DOS in a restricted environment, or where no fancy overheads are needed.

 

We were still trudging around using MS-DOS 6.0 diskettes to load ghost for windows nt, because until bartpe and vista, there really was no such thing as a windows boot diskette.  These were at a minimum 77 mb, so they were still worse than the dos boot diskette + cdrom with the image on it.

I use Win 98 Dos running off a flash drive to run Ghost and system commander. Win 98 Dos will not read NTFS, but system commander and ghost don't have a problem working with the format.

That is my primary back up and restore system.






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