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I need help getting a copy of PC-DOS 5.0/ or other versions

g4ugm said:
Actually if he has 360K drives then I think 3.x may be the latest version he can use....
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Well, as long as he can get it onto his hard disk he can pretty well use any version at all.
I didn't say it was free. If you didn't buy DOS what use was it?
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Well, at least as much use as a PET, Apple, Atari and dozens of similar systems of the day, but with more memory and a nicer keyboard than most of them.

I assume you've never heard of CP/M, and how Microsoft really got started?
 
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johnnydicamillo said:
yeah I have heard of it, and found more about it from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M
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Sorry, I didn't mean you; I was just replying to the post suggesting that a PC without MS/PC-DOS was useless.

The older versions of DOS (pre-5.0 AFAIK) came with GW-BASIC; legal issues aside, I'd think that QBASIC would work just fine with 3.3

Edit: sorry, Chuck; stepped on ya again ;-)
 
There were operating systems other than CP/M and its derivatives (Concurrent DOS, Concurrent CP/M, MP/M-86). For example, PC-MOS comes to mind. An OS intended for multi-user/multi-terminal applications. There were even a couple of Unix-ish OSes.
 
It's been years and years since I last tried it, but I seem to remember that the QBasic included in DOS 5.0 didn't run on previous versions of the operating systems. QuickBasic, the full-version big brother to QBasic, most certainly ran on DOS 3.3.

His requirement of running QBasic was the primary reason I suggested DOS 5.0. Were that not a requirement, then I'd have suggested DOS 3.3 (that's what I run on my 5160).
 
Maverick1978 said:
but I believe in the "abandonware" concept: if/when a company abandons their software, then after a 7+ year time-frame, to me, it's fair game for not-for-profit distribution. To me, MS and PC DOS fit in that category.
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MS-DOS (6.22 IIRC) is still available from Microsoft via download from MSDN. So, while Microsoft is no longer developing or actively marketing DOS, it certainly cannot be considered abandoned by any stretch of the imagination as they are still charging money for access to it.

You might be able to make more of a case for PC-DOS with IBM having exited the market.

Ethically, I think the OP is probably OK installing the original version of OS that the computer came with, if he knows who owned the machine, or if he has the backups or original install disks, since most license agreements allow for transfer of rights with the machine if all copies pass to the new owner

Barring that, you have no way of knowing if this was a machine that had a site license that restricted transfer and required the drive to be wiped or what.


Yeah, it's splitting hairs. But that's the fun, right?
 
To me, the point's moot - we all have scads of CDs, DVDs, and hard drives full of stuff we've downloaded over the years. Hell, technically making backup disk images or even digitally archiving the disks are breaking many of the old copyright agreements. Not that I'm advocating outright piracy by any stretch of the imagination! I just don't see the point in being as respectful of copyright law on antiquated software on 20+ year old media that is degrading further as we speak.

And this from a guy that has literally dozens of legal pieces of vintage PC software, hundreds of legal Commodore, and dozens of current-gen software around his house. I just have thousands more I've archived in one form or another from the internet (most of it just archived so it doesn't disappear, not actually in use).
 
johnnydicamillo said:
Well before I buy anything, I want to make sure I buy the one that would work best with my 5160 XT.

My specs are:
20mb hard drive
640kb ram
VGA card
cpu is a NEC D8088D
5.25 in. floppy and is half the size of the floppy drive in a IBM 5150
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Looks like the machines been souped up. It doesn't have the fdd hooked up to a high density fdd controlller does it?


QBasic is freely downloadable from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/135315 It's in the olddos.exe file.
 
I am not sure on how to check that because I am still not completely knowledgeable about these vintage machines considering that I am only 14 years old and from the new generation.
 
Questions about UCSD p-System

Questions about UCSD p-System

I know this ia an old post, but did you download USCD p-system from a site?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Chuckster_in_Jax said:
My first computer I purchased was a Heath/Zenith. It didn't come with and Operating System, although you could get a special package deal where you got a discount on an OS.

The options were:

MS-DOS v2.0
UCSD p-System
CPM86

and maybe a couple of other choices. But at that time, MS-DOS was not automatically bundled with the system.
I actually got the UCSD p-System.

Taken from this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCSD_Pascal

UCSD p-System (Version IV, supplied by SofTech) was one of three operating systems (along with PC-DOS and CP/M-86) that IBM offered for its original IBM PC; but the p-System never sold very well for the IBM PC, mainly because of a lack of applications and because it was more expensive than the other choices.
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At this time you can download a version of the p-System that will run in DosBox. No documentation though. As I remember, this was more geared towards program development with several compilers available.

http://pascal.hansotten.com/index.php?page=ucsd-p-system

I find it unusual that there is so little to be found about this software. I will try to archive what I have on this in the future. But it will be something else that goes on the TO DO list.
 
I've got some UCSD P-system stuff, but I don't know if any of it is the "real" IBM version.

A couple of things that spelled death for UCSD Pascal on the PC was the proprietary (non-DOS) filesystem and the introduction of Borland Turbo Pascal, which pretty much obliterated UCSD on PC hardware.

Microsoft had a competing product, but I don't think it gained any significant market traction.
 
dpatten said:
I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but DOS, of any flavor, is still legally the property of it's developer. That is to say, IBM, Microsoft, &c. You seem to be asking for links to illegally shared, copywritten software. This is unethical. It's also not particularly safe, as most such sites are simply crawling with malware.

Your best bet is to pony up the cash on Ebay or your local recycler to get a legally installable copy of the software. I picked up a set of PC-DOS 6 at my local electronics recycler last month for $5 still in the wrapper. Look around, stuff like that can still be found. Failing that, there are many sources for free open-source DOS installations online that don't infringe the rights of the original developers.
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It is called abandonware and is perfectly legal. Here is a website that has tons of stuff. http://winworldpc.com
 
Agent Orange said:
You can still "give" ​stuff away with out getting sued, can't you?
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Is it yours to give away, or are you merely licensed to use it? A lot of software is licensed.

If you transfer your copy to somebody and you don't retain a copy of it, then you can argue the doctrine of first sale. But you just can't go around making copies. You might not get sued, but you are probably violating copyright law.
 
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