MS-DOS
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Computer
| Stands for | Microsoft Disk Operating System |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
MS-DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System, a computer abbreviation.
Command-line operating system that Microsoft supplied for IBM PCs and compatibles from 1981, driven by commands such as dir, copy and format at the C:\> prompt. It was the platform on which the PC software industry was built before Windows.
Example: The 1990 accounting program only runs under MS-DOS, so we keep it alive in DOSBox.
Usage notes
Microsoft bought the rights to 86-DOS, written by Tim Paterson at Seattle Computer Products, and licensed it to IBM as PC DOS. The last standalone release was MS-DOS 6.22 in 1994. Microsoft has published the source code of several versions under the MIT License, most recently MS-DOS 4.0 in 2024.
Related abbreviations
More computer abbreviations
- ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure Library
- ITSM – IT service management
- KB – Knowledge Base
- Mac – Macintosh
- MBR – Master Boot Record
- MDM – Mobile device management
- MSP – Managed service provider
- NT – New Technology
- NTFS – New Technology File System
- OCR – Optical character recognition
- OMR – Optical mark recognition
- OOBE – Out-of-box experience