Professor T's Column

Students are asked to write two paragraphs. In paragraph one, the operating systems used in microcomputers are listed. The title for paragraph two is "What is DOS?". The following three articles are chosen to promote interest and discussion. If you have any comments in terms of content, style and originality, send me an e-mail. By the way, the order of the articles is arbitrary.

To read an article, click that name

Chan
Lucy
Hicks

Chan
Name: Sylvania Chan Date: Feb 5,1997
Class: BUE-532 ASSIGNMENT 1
1. List the operating systems used in microcomputers.

2. What is DOS?
a. Try to relate this term with what is in paragraph 1.
b. The role or function of DOS.
a. In DOS, we refer to MS-DOS 6.2, PC-DOS 6.1 and Novell DOS.
b. The full name of DOS is disk operating system. DOS is fundamental for two reasons:
1) Most computer actually read the disk operating system from a disk, and must do so
before they can do anything.
2) One of DOS's most important functions is to help you organize the information on your disks.
DOS is a collection of programs. There are many versions of DOS. For example MS-DOS 1.0,
MS-DOS 2.0, MS-DOS 3.0, MS-DOS 4.0...... MS-DOS 6.2.

Hicks
William S. Hicks, BUE532
1. The most common operating systems used on microcomputers are:

            Manufacturer                                     Operating system
     MicroSoft Corporation                          MS-DOS 6.2, Windows 95,
                                                                   Windows NT
     I.B.M.                                                      PC-DOS 6.1, OS/2
     Novell                                                      Novell DOS
     Apple                                                      MAC OS 7.6
     AT&T                                                      UNIX V7
     Linus Torvalds                                       LINUX

2. What is DOS?
DOS, an acronym for Disk Operating System, is a 16-bit operating sytem. As such it controls the
operation of the computer system by managing the the hardware. Some of its functions are to
receive instructions from the keyboard, display and print results, and read and write files from
and to a disk.
DOS consists of three files, two hidden files - IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, and the command
processor COMMAND.COM. When DOS is installed it creates two additional configuration
files which tell the computer what to do when you start it.

Lucy
BU 532, Lucyna Dereszowska
DOS is short for Disk Operating System. When DOS is sold by Microsoft Corporation, it's
called MS-DOS; when it's sold by IBM Corporation, it's called PC-DOS; and some personal
computer (PC) manufacturers provide their own modified versions of DOS. Fortunately, though,
all of the DOS version work essentially the same way.
Here is a list of the Disk Operating Systems and their manufacturers used in microcomputers.

Manufacturer                                 Operating System
IBM                                              PC-DOS
Microsoft Corporation                   MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows NT
Digital Research                            DR-DOS
Apple Computer                            Apple-DOS, Apple Macintosh DOS
                                                   CP/M (Control Program/ Microcomputer)
                                                   System 7
Tandy Corporation                         TRS-DOS (Tandy Radio Shack)

DOS is a program which controls every part of the computer system. You must install an
operating system on your personal computer (PC) before you can use it. Operating System
provides the links among the user, the hardware, and other software. DOS has three main
functions:
1. It manages the system resources (such as memory and disks).
2. It gives user access to programs and data.
3. It helps to manage the system.
When you turn your computer on, the PC reads instructions from the read-only memory chip so
that it can load, or boot MS-DOS. MS-DOS then checks componets of your computer. DOS is
used to manage files, the work flow, and perform useful task.

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DANNY615@WORLDNET.ATT.NET

Article one

Article two

Article three