Microsoft Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS, was a major player in the personal computer (PC) world during the 1980s. The success of MS-DOS marked a turning point for Microsoft Corporation as they transformed into a software giant.
Timothy Paterson, a programmer from the United States, created the first operating system for Intel’s 8086 microprocessor in 1980, originally named QDOS, which was later changed to 86-DOS. In 1981, Microsoft acquired exclusive rights to the system, rebranding it as MS-DOS and selling it to IBM for use on their new IBM-PC. The MS-DOS platform continued to evolve and upgrade over the years, and eventually, in 1995, Windows 95 was released by Microsoft, incorporating MS-DOS 7.0, but eventually surpassing it. Subsequently, Microsoft’s operating systems, starting with Windows NT, were developed separately from MS-DOS, although they could still run some MS-DOS applications.
MS-DOS was a highly popular operating system during the 1980s and early 1990s, but its technology struggled to keep up with its competitors. It lacked the multitasking and multiuser capabilities of the UNIX operating system, and had only a command-line interface, in contrast to the user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) of the early Macintosh computer from Apple Inc. Despite no longer being sold as a standalone operating system, the simple and stable MS-DOS platform continues to be used in some embedded computer systems.
