Chapter 13. The MS-DOS Environment Under Windows XP

ROAD MAP

  • Windows XP simulates the MS-DOS environment for old programs.

  • You can give old DOS programs as much memory as they want.

  • AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS are alive and well…sort of.

  • DOS compatibility is good but not perfect; you may have problems with some games and old modem and networking software.

MS-DOS Programs on Windows XP

Old programs never die, they just get harder to maintain. That's an old programmer's proverb—well, no, it's not really. But you'll quickly find that it's true if you have to use or support MS-DOS programs on Windows XP. Some programs that are based on this original 16-bit, character-based PC operating system are still in use today, and whereas Windows 95 and 98 had MS-DOS ...

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