Let's see how one controversial Windows version brought the end of its lineup and how its humble successor ended an Era. #WindowsXP #WindowsMe #MSDOS
It's October 2001, the world's leading software developer, Microsoft, has had a huge failure making them worrying about the future of Windows. Behind the scenes, they had been developing the future of Windows, yet everyone was talking about the present and that was Windows Me, the most controversial version of Windows (check out our post on Me, link below).
Microsoft knows that their new version will change everything. It will be nothing like Me's mess, it will be new and bright, a new future.
However, they also knew what they were about to end.
Wait a sec, What's MSDOS, you say?
We have talked about DOS before, if you are lost on that, check out the Xerox Alto post (link below). To recap, it is an operating system that is purely based on user commands through text. It was the first technology for operating microcomputers, first developed by Apple with Apple DOS for the first microcomputer, the Apple II (another story for another day).
Somewhere in 1980, IBM needed a new operating system for their new pioneer in computing, the IBM PC (this is a topic we must cover, wait for it). As they were clearly not great with creating software like an OS, they were looking for someone to give software to them.
The top choice at the time was CP/M by Digital Research but IBM wasn't keen on their selling rights...they wanted the OS to be named as IBM pleased.
And we have this small company, a company that developed computer parts for CP/M machines. Their name: Microsoft. Probably nobody would have said that they knew it at the time. But you see, the people in there were geniuses. As they saw IBM looking for an OS, they smelled money.
Their tactic was to outsource a DOS system, x86 DOS to be precise, and they re-labeled it as their own. Naming it Microsoft DOS, aka MS-DOS.
The Rise of MSDOS and the Start of Windows.
We can do more into detail with this in more posts but in the mid-80s to the early-90s, MSDOS was really rising. There were so many DOSes in the 70s but in the 80s the MSDOD name rules. Why? Versatility that is. MSDOS could run anywhere! Any computer equipped with a CPU faster or equal to an Intel 8088 chip and a compatible graphics card could run DOS!
As soon as the IBM computers started to be cloned, Microsoft was smelling the money coming in for the win.
But Microsoft knew that their DOS wouldn't always make the cut.
Apple had released recently this magical computer called "Macintosh" after the "success" of Lisa (check out the blog post in the site for more) and Lisa was supposed to build on the "success" of the Xerox Alto (Link below). It was this magical computer that didn't have a DOS, it had this magical "GUI" which had windows and mice and clicks.
Microsoft knew that people would want to get a GUI soon and they would want it to run on their computers that run MSDOS.
With 1985 came Windows 1.0 and surprisingly, MSDOS wasn't dead...yet.
Why is that? Windows was built to be running on top of DOS as a program. Yes, up to Windows 3.1, Windows was a program that was built to run programs in its own unique way.
And because that might be inconvenient for some certain businesses, NT was the business alternative to Windows.
And as MSDOS was becoming superior but it was not yet dead, Windows on the other hand, wasn't really as popular.
Windows 95, MSDOS taken to another direction.
Windows 95 was the change of OSes forever. It was a proper Microsoft OS with a proper GUI (not another Windows program that run programs in top of it). There is a full-fledged post in this website about this revolutionary (check link below) but to say what happened simply, Windows 95 had many new and now-classic features but one of them was the way it handled DOS.
It basically ran on top of DOS but was not booting to it from the start. So, you would have Windows as the primary OS instead of DOS. If you wanted to go to DOS, you would go to the shut-down options and choose "Restart in MSDOS mode" which would switch you to it. Or if you wanted to go it faster, you would boot the command prompt or just run the MSDOS program and it would boot to the prompt automatically.
MSDOS was not dead yet because without it, Windows could not run. Many people were fine with this because many still used MSDOS programs.
This gave birth to the Windows 9x line, which would be dominant and NT would be the business solution, since businesses didn't rely on the DOS features.
However, as DOS was becoming more useless and the gap between business and home needed to be bridged, Microsoft needed a solution, quick.
Windows Me, Controversy and MSDOS's last year of existence.
You knew this was coming. For all active ERC members, you know we love how much we hate Windows Mistake Edition. Let's note before details that it DID run on top of MSDOS and it WAS a part of Windows 9x. Ok? Let's dive into why someone might not consider it that.
So, what happened is that the feature to get to DOS was locked.
You could run programs that could run in Windows through the DOS prompt but this did not include all programs. Some run but were causing problems and some were completely unable to be used through that mode. BUT Windows Me did not let you get those programs at least to run properly.
But not necessarily. If you had an MSDOS 8.0 boot floppy on hand, you could run proper DOS, at least with sound issues (which also can be resolved).
And there were apps to bring back proper DOS, although they all had varying techniques and it's Windows Me we're talking about.
If you didn't like it, move back to an older 9x OS. Me was looking for a future in tech.
Me would be the first mainstream OS to not have DOS at all, some sort of bridge between NT and home. That was project Neptune but it never came out because it took too long and it had issues.
As project Neptune died, Windows 2000 was a perfect business solution but Me was a commercial failure, check the post on that.
Microsoft was not done yet.
How MSDOS finally died: Windows XP.
We're back to October 2001, after a failed project Neptune and more development, Microsoft was ready to show the new OS to the world. The worlds of Business and Home were finally uniting and that was with good reason. Less OSes to buy=More money to make from sales.
You see now how genius Microsoft was when they smelled money.
The reasons to get rid of DOS were many. The most likely ones are:
Businesses did not use DOS at all, preferring the Windows NT versions instead of Windows 9x.
Nobody used DOS that much, no new programs were written for it, and the future wasn't DOS.
Newer chips were better equipped to take use of Windows alone.
As MSDOS died with Windows XP's arrival, Microsoft officially declared that MSDOS and everything running with it would not be supported anymore and was obsolete. From then and on, running DOS would require emulation, meaning using apps like DOSbox.
Maybe removing DOS looked like a crazy move but Windows XP is the 3rd most-selling Windows of all time and highest selling of its time until 7 and 10.
Maybe DOS was gone for good.
Rest in peace, MSDOS.
Sources:
Related posts in the website.
LGR YouTube channel.
Wikipedia.
I highly suggest you check out the Windows 95 and Windows Me posts for more about MSDOS's relationship with Windows and its end. They might have more detail on the topics.