FreeDOS Alpha 5 release (August 10th, 1996) INTRODUCTION TO FreeDOS ------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ You have in your possession, the product of the combined work of over 50 programmers and software developers from around the world, as well as the end result of literally thousands of hours of work designing, developing, coding, and testing of this software. It is now released to you free of charge, in the hope that it will, in some way assist you, no matter where your journeys will take you. With that said, on behalf of everyone who has contributed to the FreeDOS project, I would like to welcome you to the FreeDOS Alpha-5 release. If you haven't figured it out yet, FreeDOS is a Disk Operating System (OS), which is very similar to MS-DOS. In fact, Free-DOS has been designed to eventually be 100% compatible with all MS-DOS software. As of right now, however, FreeDOS has not reached that 100% mark, and is in fact still under Alpha Development. It would not do much good to release a software that was exactly the same is MS-DOS, so most of FreeDOS has been programmed to provide features and enhancements above and beyond those of MS-DOS. Further, FreeDOS will run on ANY IBM or COMPATIBLE x86 based processor. The best part about FreeDOS to most people is the fact that is 100% Free, you will never have to pay any registration software, or anything of the sort (although any contributions will be welcome). ALPHA TESTING ------------- FreeDOS is being released as an ALPHA release. The standard definition for a software to be given a classification of ALPHA is any software which is still under development, and of which the major known bugs HAVE NOT fully been worked out yet. If you are looking for a 100% bug free OS, then it may not be best for you to use FreeDOS at this time. During this testing period, we are asking that you help us out as best as you can be reporting bugs, and other problems that you see. Please refer to the ALPHA.DOC file for additional information, and instructions about this alpha test procedure. GETTING ADDITIONAL HELP ----------------------- Because FreeDOS is still under alpha development does not mean that you can not get support for it. In fact, there are many avenue's of support for FreeDOS, and all of it's components and support utilities. That support starts here, with the documentation that you already have, and with this introduction file. The next file that you should read is the FreeDOS Frequently Asked Questions file, otherwise known as the FAQ, it is shipped with the FreeDOS installation, and should be found in your FDOS\DOC directory. The latest version can also always be found on our WWW site, or FTP site. In case you do not already have them, here are those sites : WWW Sites : http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos FTP Sites : ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos In addition, Announcements as well as the latest versions of the Free-DOS FAQ are periodically posted in the following news groups: alt.2600 comp.os.msdos.misc comp.os.msdos.programmer alt.msdos.programmer SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS ------------------ FreeDOS has been specially designed to be able to run on any type of IBM or fully compatible computer system. These systems range from 8088's and 8086's to Pentium Pro's and beyond. A Hard drive will help, but is not required. Extended or Expanded memory will also help in FreeDOS's overall performance, but also is not required. FreeDOS is also designed to be compatible with all DOS 3.x and above software. RUNNING FREEDOS --------------- One might ask, how does one 'RUN' an operating system. Actually, FreeDOS is 3 different programs in one, being comprised of a kernel, a command shell, and support utilities. The Kernel - This is what boots your system up when you turn the power on. You can make a system or bootable FreeDOS disk by using the SYS command. WARNING - THE FREEDOS KERNEL IS STILL VERY UNSTABLE. IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED THAT YOU INSTALL THE KERNEL ON YOUR HARD-DRIVE UNLESS YOU ARE A PC EXPERT. THE KERNEL WILL NOT RUN ABOUT 50% OF MS-DOS SOFTWARE, AS WELL AS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE COMMAND SHELL INTERFACE. IF YOU WISH TO TEST THE KERNEL, YOU SHOULD FIRST INSTALL IT TO A FLOPPY AND BOOT FROM FLOPPY IN ORDER TO JUDGE THE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ON YOUR PERSONAL SYSTEM. The Command Shell - This is what COMMAND.COM does, it manages your computers memory to a degree, provides disk and directory commands, serves as a way to launch other programs, and last but not least, gives you that really neat C:\> prompt. IMPORTANT NOTE : THE COMMAND SHELL DOES NOT WORK WELL WITH THE VERSION OF THE KERNEL THAT IS SHIPPED WITH ALPHA-5. IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS, TRY RUNNING THE COMMAND SHELL FROM A NON-FREEDOS KERNEL SYSTEM DISK. The Utilities - The utilities that are shipped (and found in the FDOS\BIN directory), are meant to further enhance the overall operation of FreeDOS. There are no major problems with any of the utilities which should limit there use. However, we still will need to know any minor bugs you may find.