There are some 32 bits operating systems bases in DOS, with preemtive multitasking and protected memory. At the moment I know 3 OS. The names of these operating systems are Real/32, TSX-32 and Multiuser-DOS. Multiuser-DOS: http://www.conctrls.com/frames/multi.htm TSX-32: http://www.sandh.com/os.htm#tsxlite Real/32: http://www.imsltd.com/products.htm The line command of Windows 95/98/ME doesn't have preemptive multitasking.

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You can obtain an evaluation version of TSX-32 form www.sandh.com known as TX-32 Lite. This version ought to be considered to be an educational toy. I think thatit could be based on a ten year old kernel because it cannot do long file names nor is it FAT32 compatible. You are also limited to two users and no networking. since there is no license or order form with the installation and it does not time out it is, for all intents and purposes, free. It is also the only free multitasking, multiuser protected mode DOS available on the intenet as far as I know. There is also a full version available as a download for evaluation known as TSX-32 version 6.1. This is limited to 30 days use, after which it times out after half an hour. This has many more features of interest to professional users. TSX-32 looks very impressive and once you can get past the diabolical setup program it ought to be a revelation to experienced DOS users. It is beginning to look rather dated now and the tsxshell interface looks old fashioned. It really needs a gui to compete with Applica's Multiuser Windows in ordinary office environments. I mean, who uses Word Perfect for DOS nowadays? Perhaps someone could devize an open source gui for TSX-32 if Sandh do not take the initiative. If anyone could suggest other multiuser, multitasking protected DOS versions, preferably with evaluation downloads available, I would be delighted to hear about them

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Changing the line in Msdos.sys to bootgui=0 does not change Windows into a 32 bit command line OS. You can prove that the processor has not been switched to protected mode by attempting to run the Windows consol programs START and XCOPY32 (these are the equivalent to 32 bit DOS programs). I found that the boot process stopped before Windows began to load (I think). Also accessing a large hard drive does not prove that the Windows kernel has enabled DOS to overcome the the limitations on drive size inherent in DOS. I have been able to access a 50gB partition using a Win98 boot disk. If the partition had been full up then it would have been a different story. Also I must correct Doofus on his statement that DOS relies on path commands in Autoexec.bat as the only alternative to typing out the full command. In fact it is easy to avoid straining your typing muscles by simply making a batch file for each program you may want to start. See the Useful Site for more command line tricks with Windows95/98. I have carefully read the documentation available on the internet for DR-DOS, Desqview and PTS DOS and nowhere did I see a statement to the affect that these OSs have a 32 bit kernel. In reality multitasking with these OSs is done using a 16 bit add-on for real mode DOS. I have only tried Desqview but this took a large chunk of conventional memory thus proving my point. There is no reason to think that DesqviewX is really any different in this respect. If you try a genuine protected mode DOS like TSX-32 you will not be left in any doubt that this is something fundementaly different to plain DOS. Although it is not multitasking yet you may like to try a DOS compatible OS inspired by Unix called MPS. You should be be able to obtain a free version at www.mpsystem.prv.pl

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