FreeDOS open-source text-based OS turns 30, still in active development and primarily used for retro gaming
Younger PC users may have never encountered DOS. Even those of us who had a taste of it may only have used it as the Command Prompt or PowerShell 'app' in Windows. But even though Microsoft stopped updating MS-DOS in the year 2000 (as part of Windows Me), there remains a small group of passionate developers building and maintaining an open-source version of this operating system, called FreeDOS.
FreeDOS dates back to 1994, when its developer, Jim Hall announced it as PD-DOS. With Microsoft switching to the Windows operating system that focused on a graphical user interface, Hall wanted to keep this seminal command-line interface-based OS alive, so he built a public domain version (PD) of the text-based operating system. He would rename PD-DOS to FreeDOS soon thereafter, and it still receives updates up until today.
The operating system’s latest version is version 1.3, with major updates released every four to six years. This development cycle might seem long, especially as it’s not as complicated as Microsoft’s latest operating system. However, there are still challenges to conquer for such an old piece of software.
