You mean there was something BEFORE Windows?

[viking33]

For you youngsters out there who didn't know there was an OS before Windows.
Here is a little peek at that thing callled MSDOS

[yellowfin7]

Thanks for the reminder.... may the age of punchcards never return

[viking33]

Thanks for the reminder.... may the age of punchcards never return

That ruined my day!

[Rudi]

I love How-To Geek articles. TX. That was a good read. Surprisingly, I was around in those days. I must be getting old!

[yellowfin7]

Thanks for the reminder.... may the age of punchcards never return

That ruined my day!

I had no idea you felt so strongly about the days of ages old.

[ChrisGreaves]

... may the age of punchcards never return...I had no idea you felt so strongly about the days of ages old.

BOB: Can I take the first shot at him?
Please!

[ChrisGreaves]

OK. The article is a piece of wet flannel.

"You had to know the commands to type at this prompt to launch programs, run built-in utilities, and actually do something with your computer."

'Twas ever thus with any machine, let alone any computer system, and it is still true today.
Be honest now (you who are reading this, not just Bob).
How many of your clients know how to make use of field codes in MSWord?
How many of your clients know how to make use of conditional formatting in MSExcel?
and so on.

Think of how often you have watched someone spend hours (literally!) modifying a document, with errors, when basic knowledge of recording a macro would have done the trick.

Watch all the office workers switch from keyboard to mouse to keyboard to mouse to ... because they don't know about Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X and Ctrl-V.

The list is endless.

It's also true that you need to know where you're going and how to use the controls before you set off in your car for your holiday.

OK, OK, millions of people enjoyed VHS tapes without learning how to set the clock ...

But really! The article makes it sound like DOS was more complex than Windows.
IMHO DOS was much simpler and easier to learn.
I'm hoping to be in that great big library in the sky before Windows 23 comes out (grin)

[Argus]

Agree 100 %, Chris.

[viking33]

Good job, Chris!
Couldn't have done better myself.

[Claude]

To be honest, I preferred CP/M to MSDOS. I specially like the PIP (Peripheral Interchange Program) program because it had the source / destination order in a more logical order that xcopy.

[Rudi]

Chris, you know that history always repeats itself, right. I predict that before we ever get to the complexities of Windows 23 (though you might assume that it'd be Windows 42 (for you Bob) because Microsoft often skips numbers to cover up things), DOS would have come full circle. I just think though that it would be called DOS in a Window, because this windows thing really caught on before tiles came and stuffed things up big time!!!

[John Gray]

Just looking up on my study shelf I can see the 3½" thick package containing PC DOS 6.3.

Those were the days when you got several thick manuals to accompany the (in this case five) operating system diskettes.

Yes, those were the days...

[Argus]

Yep, same here, though MS-DOS 6. And on the same shelf is a thick package with OS/2 for win 3.1 (v.2.1). One gazillion floppies to use after the 3-5 DOS plus win 3.11 (10?); I never made it till the end, before that a new version was out, on CD.

[Leif]

For you youngsters out there who didn't know there was an OS before Windows....

And according to the otherwise referenced Frequently Asked Questions: Windows 10 - Microsoft Community, "Company officials decided to choose 10 because they believe this release is a 'Perfect 10' and to also signify this is the last major release of Windows."

So, what is going to come after Windows?

[Rudi]

So, what is going to come after Windows?

DOORS... or we just go back to DOS (without the OR)

[John Gray]

So, what is going to come after Windows?

You mean that you haven't heard that 2015 is "the year of Linux on the desktop"?
(As was 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010...)

[Leif]

So, what is going to come after Windows?

DOORS... or we just go back to DOS (without the OR)

I suppose I should look forward to installing Microsoft® JimMorrison V3.1 then?

[ChrisGreaves]

Good job, Chris!
Couldn't have done better myself.

Thanks, Bob.
It took me almost twenty minutes to water-down my original comment to "wet flannel", and even then I had exhausted my knowledge of barnyard animals!

[ChrisGreaves]

To be honest, I preferred CP/M to MSDOS. ...

"There's one in every forum" (grin)

[ChrisGreaves]

...it would be called DOS in a Window, ...

Control And Teamwork For Late Arrival Programmers?