DOS

[Steve]

(Note browser for 386-40 with 4MB RAM)

================================

New Life for DOS?

Jesse Berst, Editorial Director, ZDNet AnchorDesk


What if I told you that I knew what would be the most talked-about
operating system in 1999? 

What if I told you it would be DOS? The same aging operating system
that preceded Windows. That's been all but abandoned by Microsoft. 

Consider this. Since 1997, Orem, UT-based Caldera, Inc. has sold
3,000,000 copies of DR-DOS -- an MS-DOS compatible operating system
acquired from Digital Research by way of Novell. And repositioned
DR-DOS for a market at least 10 times larger than the personal
computing world. 

I am referring to the market for small devices that connect to a
network -- to an intranet or to the Internet itself. Examples include
smart phones, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants, cash
registers, factory automation, process control, avionics, handhelds,
kiosks, pay-at-the-pump, airline entertainment, security panels,
photocopiers, fax machines, game machines, calculators, medical and
laboratory measurement, palmtops, organizers and network computers. 

Starting to see why this market could explode in the next five years?
Consider what Caldera has added to DR-DOS.

A graphical Web browser that can run on a 40 Mhz 386 with just 4 MB
of RAM ODI-based networking Multitasking TCP/IP, HTTP and FTP POP3
and SMTP Year 2000 support Power management Compression (can turn a
4 MB Flash ROM into 8 MB) 

This is not your father's disk operating system! Features like these
explain why DR-DOS has real benefits to hardware and software makers
who want to attack the "embedded systems" market. It's a tremendously
compact way to access the Internet, especially when compared with
Windows CE. And it's a robust, tested system with hundreds of proven
tools and thousands of experienced programmers. 

With this in mind, here are four areas where DR-DOS has a chance. In
order of likelihood: 

Refurbished computers. Older 386 and 286 computers still use DOS.
Caldera's DR-DOS can give them a browser so they can be used to surf
the Net. Bonus: Some great games still run on DOS. This is an obvious,
easy market for DR-DOS, but not one that has growth potential. 

Embedded systems. DR-DOS has lots of advantages here, but it also has
dozens of competitors. Company executives claim they will soon
announce "big-name" partnerships for set-top boxes, smart phones and
airline entertainment. We'll see. 

Thin client computing. Since it can run a browser in 4MB, a
DR-DOS-based device could be the ultimate low-cost network computer,
costing as little as $100. Caldera is working to add support for both
Java and Windows Terminal Server. In theory, DR-DOS-based terminals
could display Java and Windows apps running on the server. 

Handheld systems. To win in this market, Caldera would have to
convince OEMs not to move to Windows CE. The company's only realistic
chance is at the very low end, where its low memory requirements can
save money. 

In the PC world, Windows NT 5.0 will be the story of 1999. But
there's another market that -- in the long term -- may be even more
important than personal computing. In that space, the operating
system of the year could prove to be a revamped, reconstituted
version of venerable old DOS. 

Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet. 
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