dos

The untold story behind Apple's $13,000 operating system

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, Calif. -- In the common retelling of Apple's history, it was Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's second computer, the Apple II, that launched their fledgling company toward stratospheric growth and financial success. The machine's triumph as a single platform for business software, games, artistic tools -- and more -- set the stage for the later debut of the first Mac, and later OS X and iDevices.

What many forget -- or may not even know -- is that when the Apple II was introduced at the inaugural West Coast Computer Faire in April, 1977, it suffered from what, in retrospect, was a glaring shortcoming: It had no disk drive. … Read more

Relive computing's green-screen glory days in The Hacker for iOS

If you're old enough to remember green-screen monitors, bulletin-board systems, and the 1983 movie classic "War Games," you need to check out The Hacker for iOS.

It's a game, yes, but also a kind of love letter to fans of DOS, text adventures, ASCII games, and old-school hacking.… Read more

Celebrating 30 years of MS-DOS

C:\happy-birthday.exe! MS-DOS, the cornerstone of Microsoft's software empire, is 30 years old today--so let's boot into the command line for a celebration of the OS with the mostest.

On this day in 1981, Microsoft bought what was to become MS-DOS from Seattle Computer Products. SCP has developed the system under the name QDOS. Everybody knows MS-DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System, but that's actually a neat bit of corporate whitewashing from Bill Gates and co.--QDOS originally stood for Quick and Dirty Operating System.

Get healthy in 2011: Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts

According to a survey of users on goal-setting Web site 43 Things, the most popular New Year's resolution for 2011 is to lose weight. (This is Jasmine's utter lack of surprise.) Indeed, many of the top resolutions year after year are health-related. Drink less, get fit, quit smoking, manage stress, be happy, and run a marathon all continually rank high on the list.

Luckily, there is plenty of technology available to help you reach any of those goals. Of course, it would be irresponsible of me to attempt to cover it all in one article; after all, carpal … Read more

Pulled iDOS app returns, update if you dare

The controversial iOS app that let users run an emulated version of the DOS prompt has returned to the App Store, more than two months since it was pulled by Apple.

The app, which reappeared earlier this morning, has come back missing one key feature--the capability to use the file-sharing tool built into iTunes. This is what allowed users to add executables--including a full-blown Windows installer--into the app, turning the iPhone and iPad into nearly workable PC emulators.

To make up for this deficiency, iDOS' developer Chaoji Li has added six shareware games from 3D Realms as well as … Read more

Out with the old--Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts

With the new year upon us, there are no doubt plenty of plans in place for changes both big and small. For precisely this reason, January's Tech Dos & Don'ts column will be focused on helping you through the necessary transitions--at least as far as technology is concerned. First up: out with the old, in with the new.

Certainly, both the holidays and the Consumer Electronics Show have inspired a lot of dough-dropping in the gadget space. Many of you probably have a new device or two lying around, which raises the question: what to do with the … Read more

WikiLeaks fans should think before they botnet

Do you support WikiLeaks? Are you mad at critics trying to snuff it out? Maybe you're thinking about joining the online protests aimed at shutting down the Web sites of its opponents. Don't.

A loosely organized group of vigilantes under the name Anonymous have turned the botnet guns of their Operation Payback campaign, which previously targeted antipiracy organizations, on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Senator Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin, and others who have criticized WikiLeaks or stopped doing business with the document-sharing project. The WikiLeaks fallout has hit a frenzy since the site began releasing diplomatic cables last month that … Read more

Travel with video--Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts

Now that the holiday season has us in its clutches is well under way, it's the perfect time to bring my well-rested Dos & Don'ts column out of hibernation. And while I count myself among the lucky few who don't have to do much traveling to visit family, I know many of you have some lengthy treks ahead of you.

Whether the mode of transport is plane, train, or automobile, one of the best ways to counter the tedium and annoyances of travel is with some video entertainment. What follows are some tips on the best ways … Read more

Pulled DOS emulator lives on as a jailbroken app

If you weren't one of the 6,551 users who grabbed a copy of iOS app iDOS before it got pulled from the App Store, you're in luck. It will continue to be developed and offered through third-party application store Cydia.

The app, which made headlines last week for its Microsoft DOS emulation capabilities, was pulled down after less than a day of being on the store. Among other things, it could run DOS games and a full-blown version of Windows 3.1. People even got Windows 95 to boot on it, though it was completely unusable.

Besides … Read more

Emulator runs DOS, Windows on an iPad

So this was cool enough that I had to drop what I was doing (cleaning out my desk) to write it up.

Somehow, Apple has approved a DOS emulator for the iPhone and iPad and it's on the App Store for 99 cents. Better yet, someone managed to load Windows 3.0 on the thing.

The app, iDOS, is universal, working well on iPads and iPhones alike. It features such niceties as a retro grimy keyboard, floppy drive, and attached sticky notes, along with a coffee-stained notepad.

But if you want it, you probably better buy it quick. I … Read more