IBM PC-DOS

Infobox OS
name = PC-DOS



caption = A typical command line in PC DOS.
developer = IBM
family = DOS
source_model = Closed source
latest_release_version = 7.0 revision 1 (a.k.a. PC DOS 2000)
latest_release_date = May, 1998
kernel_type =
ui = Command line interface
license = Proprietary
working_state = Historic
website = IBM PC-DOS is a DOS operating system for the IBM Personal Computer, sold throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

History

The original 1981 arrangement between IBM and Microsoft was that Microsoft would provide the base product and that both firms would work on developing different parts of it into a more powerful and robust system, and then share the resultant code. MS-DOS and PC-DOS were to be marketed separately: IBM selling to itself for the IBM PC, and Microsoft selling to the open market. However, at no time did IBM acquire the ownership of the source code of the operating system for its own PCs.

After Microsoft

PC-DOS remained a rebranded version of MS-DOS until 1993. IBM and Microsoft parted ways—MS-DOS 6 was released in March, and PC-DOS 6.1 (separately developed) followed in June. QBasic was dropped and the MS-DOS Editor was replaced with E. PC-DOS 6.3 followed in December.

PC-DOS 7 was released in November 1994. The REXX programming language was added, as well as support for a new floppy disk format, XDF, which extended a standard 1.44 MB floppy disk to 1.86 MB. The most recent release was PC-DOS 2000, which found its niche in the embedded software market and elsewhere. It was based on PC-DOS 7, and corrected issues with the Year 2000 problem. Branding of PC-DOS 2000 included the phrase "includes PC-DOS 7".

ThinkPad products currently have a copy of the latest version of PC-DOS in their Rescue and Recovery partition.

For a short time in April 2008, IBM offered the license for PC-DOS for just under $10,000, in the operating systems list for custom orders. [ [http://i29.tinypic.com/bhdh8m.pngScreen shot] of Lenovo ThinkPad customization screen.] [ [http://blogs.conary.com/index.php/gafton/2008/04/23/lenovo_thinkpad_and_a_great_deal Cristian's Blog - Lenovo, Thinkpad and a great deal! ] ] .

Versions

"See Comparison of x86 DOS operating systems for version information and a timeline."

References

* IBM Corporation and Microsoft, Inc. "Dos 3.30: User's Guide". IBM Corporation, 1987. Part number 80X0933.
* IBM Corporation and Microsoft, Inc. "Dos 3.30: Reference (Abridged)". IBM Corporation, 1987. Part number 94X9575.
* IBM Corporation. "Getting Started with Disk Operating System Version 4.00". IBM Corporation, 1988. Part number 15F1370.
* IBM Corporation. "Using Disk Operating System Version 4.00". IBM Corporation, 1988. Part number 15F1371.
* IBM Corporation. "IBM Disk Operating System Version 5.0. User Guide and Reference". IBM Corporation, 1991. Part number 07G4584.
* IBM Corporation. "PC DOS 7 User's Guide". IBM, 1995.
* IBM Corporation. "IBM PC DOS and Microsoft Windows User's Guide". Indianapolis, IN: Que Corporation, 1995. ISBN 0-7897-0276-2.

See also

*MS-DOS
*Comparison of x86 DOS operating systems
*List of DOS commands
*Rexx
*E (PC-DOS)

External links

* [http://www.16bitos.com/ 16bitos.com] detailed lists of PC-DOS and MS-DOS versions
* [ftp://ftp.boulder.ibm.com/software/dos/ ftp://ftp.boulder.ibm.com/software/dos/] PC-DOS 2000 (Chinese Edition), freely available for download from IBM