MS-DOS is probably regarded as one of the oldest operating systems released by Microsoft around the 1980s. The operating system really had a good welcome when it was released into the market as it packed all the features that were lagging in the then present operating systems. the MS-DOS proved to be a really worthy operating system to work with and it really pulled off in the market with note-worthy popular features that gave it the upper-hand in meeting the requirements of an operating system back in those days.
Now the phenomenal traces of such a sophisticated operating system cannot be run over on a normal base computer system and that is where we jump into the conclusion of running the same MS-DOS operating system in a virtual machine.
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Overview
Virtual Machine is a great concept that allows you to run an old, new and advanced operating systems in the same computer by just booting the Image file of the required operating system in the loader. Now the advantage with this type of environment is that you don’t have to run behind a dealer to sell you an old-school computer to help you run the MS-DOS software and get an experience out of it.
There are a lot of virtual machine providers out there that will help you with getting a Virtual machine set up. You can also download the image file of a virtual machine from the ISO river page and get the download done.
Features
Now before we get into the details of actually running MS-DOS on a virtual machine you definitely need to know the various features that MS-DOS has to offer. Some of them are;
- It is first and foremost a Disk Operating system (DOS) that means that the basic functionalities of getting things done in the operating system are majorly one through commands. The big drawback of the system when compared with the recent trends is definitely the number of commands that you have to enter to maneuver yourself through the system.
- The system is a 16-bit operating system which means the user interface is less interactive and appears pretty basic. It anyhow complied in satisfying all the features that were required to complete the same.
- The maximum space that is available to operate and the store is nothing more than 2GB. But it was pretty huge for an operating system that was released in the 1980s
- The system also does not support a graphic interface that is prevalent in almost all the operating systems that are available in today’s generation of the operating systems. But with the MS-DOS you will definitely have a clear-cut idea about what the Graphics that you see in the user interface these days are all about.
- The operating system is an independent one and you can easily enter commands to work in such an environment. The advantage with such a feature is that the system can definitely create a space for you to try out new applications and develop new features in the same.
These features may seem so meager when compared to the operating systems of today’s generation, but the MS-DOS operating system definitely had a very big impact on the way it led to the operation. The features that we experience with the operating system these days seemed to be ab ideal one back in those days of MS-DOS.
Let’s move ahead in knowing how you can actually start working on installing the MS-DOS in the virtual machine and getting an experience out of the same.
How to download and install MS-DOS in a virtual machine
1. Download and install a virtual machine in the system where you want to run the MS-DOS software. You can also download the installer for a virtual machine by accessing the link to download a virtual machine into your computer.
2, Once you install the virtual machine you need to set the requirements of the operating system that you are going to run. Since the operating system that you are going to run is MS-DOS, the configuration of the system can is kept to the minimal requirements that I have mentioned below.
- 16MB RAM
- 2GB HDD
- EGA 640 X 480 display
- CD-ROM disk containing DOS.
3. Once you are one with the configuration you will have to download the MS-DOS installer from the mentioned link below as an ISO image and boot the same into the virtual machine.
4. Once you have done that reboot the system and run the MS-DOS operating system.
5. This will help you in getting the best experience of MS-DOS.
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Download MS-DOS Installer
You can download the installer file of the MS-DOS operating system as an ISO image file by accessing the link below. Also, don’t forget to install a virtual machine before you actually want to run the MS-DOS operating system as there is no other way in which you can get the experience of using MS-DOS.
