Hi!
Of course you can install DOS on a computer for itself or on a harddisk for itself. You can also install it on a partition, while other operating systems have the other partitions. The more of the PC DOS has for itself the smaller the risk is to damage other data, sure :-) I myself would say that if you use your existing other OS to make a dedicated primary FAT partition for DOS, and if the other OS does not even need FAT partitions for itself, then the risk of DOS damaging other data is very small, as long as you do not use FDISK or so. > 64 bit computer, Freedos may have to be run under emulation. Not really - basically all 64 bit PC CPU boot in DOS compatible modes. You simply miss the chance to use more than 4 GB of RAM because DOS does not activate the 64 bit addressing mode. Similarily, DOS does not activate CPU cores, so it runs only on ONE core, the one from which the BIOS loads DOS. If you have 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 or even 16 CPU cores (AMD has that in 1 single CPU...) then all the extra cores are idle and useless while you use "only" DOS on "too modern PC". But still, you CAN easily run DOS there, so you save space and energy compared to putting a second PC with a Pentium III or other classic CPU next to your hyper modern computer... > The problem with emulation is that you are throwing the simplicity of > DOS away and introducing compatibility issues. Emulation is getting > better and if you are constantly rebooting between Freedos and Linux or > Freedos and Windows, emulation may be a necessity. Emulation allows you to run and "boot" one or even multiple DOS (-windows) without having to interrupt your activities on the other (host) operating system. Actually a GOOD thing in emulation is that you do not need DOS drivers for all your new hardware, be it for example UMTS or WLAN internet, HDA or AC97 sound, USB or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, touchpad, tablet... They are just driven by the host operating system and Dosemu or a complete virtual PC in which you install DOS or other "classic" operating systems only see an emulation of classic equivalents, for example NE2000 LAN, SoundBlaster sound, PS/2 keyboard and mouse... If you only switch the screen between old and new PC then you are always in an either-or situation of what you see - DOS or the system of the new PC, although both RUN at the same time and you avoid rebooting... > A thought that comes to mind is that you don't want to worry about your > kids who are interested in playing video games screwing up your > computer. A dedicated DOS machine makes a lot of sense for that. Definitely :-) You can give your kids a separate user account on a new PC as well, but that does not help when they spill the lemonade over it while gaming ;-) On the other hand, it might be hard to get a PC which is so old that it can only run DOS. You may still want to install a dual-boot with Linux or (if you have some spare licenses) Windows so they can also play games or even do smarter things on those operating systems, too. Eric :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
