Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!ariel.unm.edu!triton.unm.edu!ee5391aa
From: ee5391aa@triton.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: Re: 4DOS??
Keywords: 4DOSS??
Message-ID: <1991Mar15.182729.21450@ariel.unm.edu>
Date: 15 Mar 91 18:27:29 GMT
References: <pdekam.668922317@galaxy.afit.af.mil>
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Lines: 40

In article <pdekam.668922317@galaxy.afit.af.mil> root@afit.af.mil writes:

>I am a nnew body to nn and the wonderfull world of computing.
>I've seen many refrences to 4DOS.  Can I get some info on why
>a person should download it from simtel20 and swap it out with
>command.sys?  

Weeeeeellllllll...let's just say that 4dos is messdos written the way it
_should_ have been.  ;^)

4dos places in the command processor whole _bunches_ of nice stuff that you
usually have to load a pile of TSR to get the same results under command.com.

Short list:
	command history
	realistic command line editing
	command aliasing
	a directory stack, with push and pop instructions
	filename completion
	a whole _pile_ of new batch file commands
	a built-in help function
	in-memory execution of batch files
	multiple commands on a line
	255-character command line
	a built-in timer
	many more options on many standard commands
	almost complete compatibility with command.com
	tee and wye (Y) for standard output and input
	try it for free (shareware)
	_not_ crippled shareware
	a more UNIX-like wildcard expansion
		i.e., *yy.txt is NOT equivalent to *.txt


There's a lot more that could be said, but I think you get the idea.

The idea of going back to standard messdos is repugnant, at the very least.


						d