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Warp wrote:
>   MS-DOS sounds like "to handle the details of the operation of the
> hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these
> details and makes it easier to write applications." ?

ANSI.SYS
COM1:
LPT:
Floppy disks
Hard disks
ASCII keyboard input
HIMEM.SYS
TSR programs
NetBIOS

I could open files on floppies, hard drives, and CD-ROMs all with the same 
API under MS-DOS. In what was isn't that handling the details of the 
operation of that hardware?

>   Yeah, MS-DOS had great support for managing memory, network connections
> and the like. In your dreams maybe.

I didn't say it had great support. It had support: TSR programs for managing 
memory, NetBIOS for managing network connections.

>   MS-DOS was nothing but an application launcher, which kept some routines
> in memory for the application to call if it wanted. After the application
> launched, it had absolute control of the machine.

So? That doesn't mean it didn't manage the hardware and share resources. It 
just means there was no protection to keep you from bypassing the OS. No, 
sorry, a machine without an OS is one where you dial in the codes on the 
front panel switches to load your application off paper tape and then branch 
to it.

Did *you* ever write an MS-DOS program that had to avoid accidentally 
stomping on other people's files on the same hard drive?

Do you think that the applications in your cell phone don't have complete 
control over the hardware? Do you think your cell phone doesn't have an OS 
in it?

Do you think the AmgiaOS wasn't actually an OS?

Other than scoffing, what do you think, specifically, an OS has to do that 
MS-DOS doesn't do at least in a primitive way?

> Basically the application
> became the de-facto "operating system", if we can call it that.

You don't understand what an "operating system" is, I fear. Or, rather, your 
definition is too narrow. There are all kinds of operating systems out there 
that don't prevent you from crashing the device if you want.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
   see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.

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