From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about operating system that loads from disks. For the Microsoft operating system commonly referred to as simply "DOS", seeMS-DOS. For other uses, seeDOS (disambiguation).
Adiskoperating system (DOS) will load from afloppy disk each time a computer starts, and will access that disk forsoftware to complete operations.MS-DOS is probably the most well-known DOS, and was purchased byMicrosoft Corporation from a system known asQDOS. As operating systems became more complicated and took up more space, they began to be permanently installed onhard drives, which are faster and more reliable than floppy disks, and can store more data. This was encouraged by a steady drop inhard drive prices.
DOSes are usually text-based and without graphics to save space on a floppy disk. Although DOSes have mostly been replaced byWindows,Macintosh, andLinux systems, among others (sporting aGUI, or GraphicalUser Interface), they are still in use in some places, mostly on older computers. This may be because of a lack of money, the need to usesoftware which still runs on a DOS system,nostalgia for an older operating system, or the belief that text-based systems are more efficient.
Although GUIs are more popular, in times of emergency or when one needs to install special software, aboot disk allows a user to start his or her computer into a DOS.
