Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!clyde!cuae2!ihnp4!drutx!druhi!bryan From: bryan@druhi.UUCP (BryanJT) Newsgroups: net.micro.pc Subject: Re: MS/PC DOS? Message-ID: <1280@druhi.UUCP> Date: Tue, 28-Oct-86 18:03:11 EST Article-I.D.: druhi.1280 Posted: Tue Oct 28 18:03:11 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 29-Oct-86 02:45:35 EST References: <985@husc2.UUCP> <394@catnip.UUCP> <4058@amdahl.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Information System Labs, Denver, Co Lines: 50 Keywords: MS-DOS, PC-DOS Summary: MS-DOS and PC-DOS In article <4058@amdahl.UUCP>, kim@amdahl.UUCP writes: > Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more! > > MS-DOS is a generic product which is sold to OEM's. It provides all of > the system functions and calls that are accessed via interrupts above 20h > (i.e., int 20h, int21h, etc.) This generic, base system is sometimes > slightly customized by the OEM (IBM does this to a minor degree, I'm told). > The basic operation of MS-DOS, and the functions provided via these rupts > are very well defined and consistent from vendor to vendor. But that's > where it stops. > > All of the functions/services that are provided by the BIOS are up to > the individual vendor to implement, and are implementation specific. On > PClones these are things like rupts 10h - 1Fh, which provide services > for Video I/O, RS232, keyboard, printer, Basic, floppys, etc. (at the > BIOS level). Then there are what are usually called H/W rupts (08h - 0Fh) > on PClones; these too, are implementation specific. > Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Not over anything factual you said (it all seems to be accurate) except that your use of terminology is misleading. MS-DOS is Microsoft's 8088/8086/80188/80186/etc. generic operating system; it provides the features you specified as being available on interrupts 20h and up. PC-DOS is, pure and simple, the version of MS-DOS that includes the cutomised BIOS interface for the IBM PC. Most other vendors call their customized MS-DOS's "MS-DOS" because we'd all get tired of "COMPAQ-DOS", "Z-DOS", "FUJI-DOS" and so forth -- and we'd never know which were really MS-DOS and which were cheap vendors' cheap imitations. Calling the IBM PC BIOS a part of PC-DOS is misleading; if my PC is running CP/M-86, the BIOS is still there -- and it is used by CP/M-86. Likewise, CP/M-86 running on a non-IBM PC is still CP/M-86, even though it may have to be customized for that machine. Now I'm not going to argue: much software is written to take advantage of the IBM-PC BIOS directly; this is usable on machines that are BIOS-compatible and running MS-DOS, but not on machines running MS-DOS that are not BIOS compatible. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- John T. Bryan USENET: ...!ihnp4!druhi!bryan AT&T Information Systems PHONE: (303) 538-5172 12110 N. Pecos, #8C350 QUOTE: I didn't mean what you thought I meant Denver, CO 80234 you said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a disclaimer: I don't speak for AT&T, and they don't speak for me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------