What was Microsoft's second operating system?
Microsoft is always trying to
outdo itself time and time again with their operating systems. After Windows ME
was such an abysmal failure, Microsoft was quick to push out Windows XP, which
was soon to be replaced with Windows Vista, only to then be replaced by Windows
7. And while all these operating systems might get confusing at times, we have
tracked down the second Microsoft operating system.
That system was MSX-DOS. MSX-DOS was created for
the 8-bit home computer and was a disk-based computer operating system. MSX-DOS
was created at the same time as Basic and was developed to give users a cheaper
option for software that did not rely on memory cartridges for software
capabilities. MSX-DOS also took out the need for using tape cassettes as a
memory device because it introduced the use of 5 ¼” disks as well as 3 ½” discs.
With the invention of MSX-DOS, it was now also possible to boot a computer off
disk alone.
The creation of MSX-DOS also provided an
alternative for users who could only use a disk-based operating system through
the CP/M system that was carried by Digital Research. It was actually this CP/M
operating system that the Microsoft MSX-DOS system was based on. MSX-DOS was
also designed to be much more user-friendly than one of its Microsoft
predecessors, CP/M. However, MSX-DOS was also designed to be compatible with
many of CP/Ms software programs, such as WordStar and Turbo Pascal.
MSX-DOS, much like Windows, also had later versions
developed from it and with each version, the system became much more advanced
and sophisticated and had many more features for the user to take advantage of.
Later versions of MSX-DOS included features such real-time clock for
time-stamping files, memory management, environment strings, and memory
management.
MSX-DOS
