Microsoft KB Archive/66510

Advantages of MS-DOS 5.0 on an 8086/8088 PSS ID Number: Q66510 Article last modified on 03-05-1993 PSS database name: O_MSDOS

5.00

MS-DOS

Question:

MS-DOS version 5.0 saves a lot of memory if you have an 80386; what do I gain by running MS-DOS 5.0 on an 8086/8088 or even on an 80286 with 640K or less?

Response:

MS-DOS 5.0 will save you any memory on these machines only if you were previously running DOS 4.01, in which case it will save between 4K and 9K; however, there are many other advantages to be gained with MS-DOS version 5.0. The following is a quick list:

New Functions

 * Allows greater than 32 MB hard drive partitions
 * Allows more than two physical hard drives
 * Support for 2.88 MB floppy drives
 * New, improved DOS Shell
 * Full-screen editor
 * QBasic, a run-time basic interpreter
 * DOSKEY, a command recall and editing utility
 * Delete tracking and the ability to undelete files

New Functionality Added to Old Commands

 * All commands provide online help with the /? option
 * ATTRIB now affects hidden and system files
 * DEL /P prompt before deleting each file
 * DIR /S recursive directory search DIR /O specify sort order DIR /A display files of selected attribute DIR reports total bytes used by listed files
 * FDISK now deletes non-DOS partitions
 * FORMAT now allows a nondestructive quick format from which you can recover
 * RESTORE now restores files backed up under previous versions of DOS

These are just some of the most notable changes in MS-DOS 5.0 that can be used whether you are using an 80386, 80286, 8088, or 8086.

Additional reference words: 5.00

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.