<s>
FreeDOS	O
(	O
formerly	O
Free-DOS	O
and	O
PD-DOS	B-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
for	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatible	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
intends	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
complete	O
MS-DOS-compatible	O
environment	O
for	O
running	O
legacy	B-Device
software	I-Device
and	O
supporting	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
can	O
be	O
booted	O
from	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
or	O
USB	O
flash	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
well	O
under	O
virtualization	B-General_Concept
or	O
x86	B-Operating_System
emulation	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
most	O
versions	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
FreeDOS	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
licensed	B-License
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
other	O
packages	O
that	O
form	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
FreeDOS	O
project	O
include	O
non-GPL	O
software	O
considered	O
worthy	O
of	O
preservation	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
4DOS	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
distributed	O
under	O
a	O
modified	O
MIT	B-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FreeDOS	O
project	O
began	O
on	O
29	O
June	O
1994	O
,	O
after	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
it	O
would	O
no	O
longer	O
sell	O
or	O
support	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jim	O
Hall	O
–	O
who	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
was	O
a	O
student	O
–	O
posted	O
a	O
manifesto	O
proposing	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
PD-DOS	B-Application
,	O
a	O
public	O
domain	O
version	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
them	O
,	O
a	O
kernel	O
(	O
by	O
Villani	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
COMMAND.COM	B-Operating_System
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
interpreter	O
(	O
by	O
Villani	O
and	O
Norman	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
core	O
utilities	O
(	O
by	O
Hall	O
)	O
were	O
created	O
by	O
pooling	O
code	O
they	O
had	O
written	O
or	O
found	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU/DOS	O
,	O
an	O
unofficial	O
distribution	O
of	O
FreeDOS	O
,	O
was	O
discontinued	O
after	O
version	O
1.0	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
1.1	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
2	O
January	O
2012	O
,	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
as	O
a	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
image	O
:	O
a	O
limited	O
install	O
disc	O
that	O
only	O
contains	O
the	O
kernel	O
and	O
basic	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
full	O
disc	O
that	O
contains	O
many	O
more	O
applications	O
(	O
games	O
,	O
networking	O
,	O
development	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
firm	O
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
for	O
making	O
these	O
machines	O
no	O
cheaper	O
,	O
and	O
harder	O
to	O
buy	O
,	O
than	O
identical	O
systems	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
as	O
bootable	O
media	O
for	O
updating	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
firmware	O
in	O
HP	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FED-UP	O
is	O
the	O
Floppy	B-Device
Enhanced	O
DivX	O
Universal	O
Player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FUZOMA	O
is	O
a	O
FreeDOS-based	O
distribution	O
that	O
can	O
boot	O
from	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
and	O
converts	O
older	O
computers	O
into	O
educational	O
tools	O
for	O
children	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XFDOS	O
is	O
a	O
FreeDOS-based	O
distribution	O
with	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
porting	O
Nano-X	B-Language
and	O
FLTK	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
is	O
mostly	O
compatible	O
with	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
COM	O
executables	O
,	O
standard	O
DOS	B-Device
executables	O
and	O
Borland	O
's	O
16-bit	O
DPMI	O
executables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
run	O
32-bit	O
DPMI	O
executables	O
using	O
DOS	B-Device
extenders	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
has	O
several	O
improvements	O
relative	O
to	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
mostly	O
involving	O
support	O
for	O
newer	O
standards	O
and	O
technologies	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
exist	O
when	O
Microsoft	O
ended	O
support	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
internationalization	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
Advanced	O
Power	O
Management	O
TSRs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
HX	B-Device
DOS	I-Device
Extender	I-Device
,	O
many	O
Windows	B-Application
Console	I-Application
applications	O
function	O
properly	O
in	O
FreeDOS	O
,	O
as	O
do	O
some	O
rare	O
GUI	B-Application
programs	O
,	O
like	O
QEMM	B-Device
and	O
Bochs	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
1.0	I-Application
and	O
2.0	B-Application
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
3.x	O
releases	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
support	O
for	O
i386	B-General_Concept
processors	O
,	O
cannot	O
fully	O
be	O
run	O
in	O
386	B-General_Concept
Enhanced	O
Mode	O
,	O
except	O
partially	O
in	O
the	O
experimental	O
FreeDOS	O
kernel	O
2037	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
,	O
Windows	B-Device
98	I-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Device
Me	I-Device
use	O
a	O
stripped-down	O
version	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeDOS	O
cannot	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
because	O
the	O
undocumented	O
interfaces	O
between	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
7.0	O
–	O
8.0	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
"	O
4.xx	O
"	O
are	O
not	O
emulated	B-Application
by	O
FreeDOS	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
and	O
used	O
beside	O
these	O
systems	O
using	O
a	O
boot	O
manager	O
program	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
BOOTMGR	O
or	O
METAKERN	O
included	O
with	O
FreeDOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
NT-based	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
including	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
,	O
XP	B-Application
,	O
Vista	B-Application
,	O
7	B-Device
,	O
8	B-Application
,	O
8.1	B-Device
,	O
10	B-Operating_System
and	O
11	B-Application
for	O
desktops	O
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Server	I-Application
2003	I-Application
,	O
2008	B-Device
and	O
2008	B-Device
R2	I-Device
for	O
servers	O
,	O
do	O
not	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
as	O
a	O
core	O
component	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
systems	O
can	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
FAT	O
file	O
systems	O
which	O
are	O
used	O
by	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
;	O
however	O
,	O
they	O
typically	O
use	O
the	O
NTFS	B-Application
(	O
New	B-Application
Technology	I-Application
File	I-Application
System	I-Application
)	O
by	O
default	O
for	O
security	O
and	O
other	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FreeDOS	O
kernel	O
can	O
be	O
booted	O
by	O
adding	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
or	O
XP	B-Application
's	O
NT	O
Boot	O
Loader	O
configuration	O
file	O
,	O
boot.ini	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
freeldr.ini	O
equivalent	O
for	O
ReactOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
used	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
four	O
Logical	O
Block	O
Addressing	O
(	O
LBA	O
)	O
hard	O
disks	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
128	O
GB	O
,	O
or	O
2	O
TB	O
,	O
in	O
size	O
are	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
planned	O
support	O
for	O
NTFS	B-Application
,	O
ext2	B-Application
or	O
exFAT	B-Application
,	O
but	O
there	O
are	O
several	O
external	O
third-party	O
drivers	O
available	O
for	O
that	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
access	O
ext2	B-Application
file	O
systems	O
,	O
LTOOLS	O
,	O
a	O
counterpart	O
to	O
Mtools	B-Application
,	O
can	O
sometimes	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
copy	O
data	O
to	O
and	O
from	O
ext2	B-Application
file	O
system	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
