Mail Archives: djgpp/1999/07/30/23:49:34
Mark & Candice White wrote:
> > But, doesn't DOS use BIOS routines to read from the keyboard (when it could very
> > easily hook the interrupt). Doesn't it also use BIOS routines to do various tasks
> > like changing screen-modes and reading/writing from a hard-drive? Could it then be
> > said that DOS isn't an OS because it calls BIOS service routines?
> > -Rolf Campbell (39)3-6318
>
> I have read some good arguments the MSDOS is not an os because it doesn't have
> a kernel, but a PCs BIOS is not an os in anyone's book, its just a api/lib, it manages
> no resources.
It does manager resources, it manages video resources and the keyboard. What is
really meant by 'managing resources'? DOS is just a set of api/libs. All it does is map
these lib functions to interrupts and ... there you go. If you say that DOS is an
operating system because it manages a file-system, then you could say the same thing
about Win9x (it uses LFN's). I don't understand the difference between DOS on BIOS &
Win9x on DOS. All 3 of them can launch programs.
-Rolf Campbell (39)3-6318
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