x86 DOS Operating Systems

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Published on 11:08 AM Category:

Originally MS-DOS was designed to be an operating system that could run on any 8086-family computer. It competed with other Operating Systems written for x86 based computers, such as CP/M-86 and UCSD Pascal. Each computer would have its own distinct hardware and its own version of MS-DOS, similar to the situation that existed for CP/M, and with MS-DOS emulating the same solution as CP/M to adapt for different hardware platforms. So there were many different versions of "MS-DOS" for different hardware. But the greater speed attainable by direct control of hardware was of particular importance, especially when running computer games. So very soon an IBM-compatible architecture became the goal, and before long all 8086-family computers closely emulated IBM's hardware, and a only single version of MS-DOS for a fixed hardware platform was all that was needed for the market. This version is the version of MS-DOS that is discussed here, as all other versions of MS-DOS died out with their system. One version of such a DOS (Z-DOS) is mentioned here, but there were dozens more.
Name -> Creator -> Release -> Max Partition Size -> File System
  • PC DOS 1.0 -> IBM -> 1981, August -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 1.1 -> IBM -> 1982, May -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 2.0 -> IBM -> 1983, March -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 3.0 -> IBM -> 1984, August -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 4.0 -> IBM -> 1988 -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 5.0 -> IBM -> 1991 -> NA -> FAT12
  • PC DOS 6.1, 6.3 -> IBM -> 1993 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • PC DOS 7 -> IBM -> 1995 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • PC DOS 2000 -> IBM -> 1998 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 1.0 -> Microsoft -> 1982 -> NA -> FAT12
  • Z-DOS 1.25 -> OEM Zenith -> 1982, May -> NA -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 1.1 -> Microsoft -> 1982 -> NA -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 2.0 -> Microsoft -> 1983, March -> 10 MB -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 3.0 -> Microsoft -> 1984 -> 32 MB -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 3.2 -> Microsoft -> 1986 -> 32 MB -> FAT12
  • DOS 3.27 -> OEM Olivetti -> 1986, December -> NA -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 3.3 -> Microsoft -> 1987 -> 32 MB -> FAT12
  • MS-DOS 4.0 -> Microsoft -> 1988 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 5.0 -> Microsoft -> 1991 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 6.0 -> Microsoft -> 1994 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 6.22 -> Microsoft -> 1994 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 7.0 -> Microsoft -> 1995 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • MS-DOS 7.10 -> Microsoft -> 1996 -> 124.55 GB -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • MS-DOS 8.0 -> Microsoft -> 2000 -> 124.55 GB -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • DOS Plus 1.2 -> Digital Research -> 1986 -> 32 MB -> FAT12/FAT16/CPM-86
  • DR-DOS 3.x -> Digital Research -> 1988 -> 32 MB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • DR-DOS 5 -> Digital Research -> 1990 -> 512 MB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • DR-DOS 6 -> Digital Research -> 1991 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • Novell DOS 7 -> Novell -> 1993 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • OpenDOS 7.01 -> Caldera Systems -> 1997 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • DR-OpenDOS 7.02 -> Caldera Systems -> 1997 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • DR-DOS 7.02 -> Caldera Systems -> 1998 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • DR-DOS 7.03 -> Caldera TC/Lineo -> 1999 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • DR-DOS 8.0 -> DeviceLogics -> 2004 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • DR-DOS 8.1 -> DR DOS Inc. -> 2005 -> 2 GB -> FAT12/FAT16
  • FreeDOS  1.0 -> Jim Hall -> 2006 -> 2 TB -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • PTS-DOS  32 -> PhysTechSoft -> 1991 -> NA -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • PTS-DOS 2000 -> PhysTechSoft -> NA -> NA -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • PTS-DOS 2000 Pro -> PhysTechSoft -> NA -> NA -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
  • ROM-DOS -> Datalight -> 1989 -> NA -> FAT12/FAT16/FAT32
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