But unlike Linux, DOS directory names are delimited by \ instead of /. Starting with PC-DOS 2.0 in 1983, DOS also supported directories and subdirectories, much like the directories and subdirectories on Linux filesystems. The C: in the prompt means you are using the first partition on the first hard drive. The first partition on the first hard drive was the C: drive, and so on for other drives. Early PCs could have only two floppy drives, which were assigned as the A: and B: drives. For example, you might make a backup copy of your most important files to a floppy disk.ĭOS referenced each drive by a letter. Even when computers supported hard drives, it was common in the 1980s and 1990s to switch frequently between the different drives. The DOS promptįirst, let's look at the empty prompt and what it means.ĭOS is a "disk operating system" created when personal computers ran from floppy disks. If you want to learn more than what's offered here, visit the FreeDOS wiki. It offers just the basics: how to get around and how to look at files. This gentle introduction to FreeDOS should get you started. New users often ask, "I installed FreeDOS, but how do I use it?" If you haven't used DOS before, the blinking C:\> DOS prompt can seem a little unfriendly. Today, open source developers are more familiar with the Linux command line or they may prefer a graphical desktop like GNOME, making the FreeDOS command line seem alien at first. As a result, DOS users in the 1990s were able to jump right into FreeDOS. And that was by design FreeDOS intended to mimic MS-DOS as much as possible. In 1994, FreeDOS was immediately familiar to anyone who had used Microsoft's proprietary MS-DOS.
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