dross@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU (david ross) (11/11/88)
(I'm posting this in response to a couple of requests...)
My latest PC clone purchase included not the usual MSDOS, but instead
a new Digital Research 'clone' called DR DOS. Since this is destined
to become a common alternative, I thought I'd share some things I've
discovered in using DR DOS. This is a *long* note, so I summarize here:
(All references to MSDOS are really to PCDOS ver. 3.3)
1) DR DOS includes a few useful features rendering it easier to
use and more flexible than MSDOS
2) DRDOS uses quite a lot more disk and memory space than MSDOS
3) DRDOS is reasonably compatible with MSDOS 3.3
4) DRDOS is NOT NOT NOT (I repeat) NOT *fully* compatible with MSDOS
Read on for details...
***** AVAILABILITY *****
DR DOS seems not to be available from Digital Research or software
houses as a stand-alone product; it *is* available from a distributer
called 2001 Sales, who provided the copy my clonemaker shipped with
my XT clone. Their bundle, which they misleadingly call EZ-DOS 4.0
(DRDOS is actually based on DOS 3.3, not 4.0), comes with GEM
desktop (which, to my surprise, I often find useful) and a weak
shell utility called TopDos, in addition to DRDOS itself.
***** POSITIVE FEATURES *****
* There is no 32 meg limit on hard disk partitions. (I believe the
limit is 512 meg, but it may be more.)
* DR DOS has made two improvements in the user interface from MSDOS:
(a) The command line is editable (i.e., the cursor, insert, and
delete keys work at the prompt); and
(b) Most commands have a /help option.
Note that (a) can be obtained through many inexpensive or PD packages,
such as CED, though there's something to be said for it being a true
part of the OS. Despite long familiarity with DOS, I use (b) quite a lot.
* Some commands have increased functionality. For example, ATTRIB lets
you tag files so that when typed they only scroll one page at a time,
and DIR lets you eternalize options (i.e., DIR/w/r will make DIR alone
give /w - style listings)
* Some commands are somewhat faster.
* There are a few extra commands. (I can send anyone a list, if desired.)
* Almost all the MSDOS programs I've tried, including some which
incorporate fairly sophisticated DOS tricks, have worked fine in DRDOS.
***** NEGATIVE FEATURES ******
* DRDOS is a real space hog. My TPA, with no drivers or TSRs, is
about 18K less than under MSDOS 3.3
* Most utilities require more disk space than their MSDOS counterparts,
often twice as much space.
* No DEBUG; they supply SID86 instead. While I think SID86 is a
better debugger, it won't read DEBUG 'scripts' that are often
provided as software patches.
* No EDLIN, or *any* editor. TopDos does include a full-screen
editor, but it has a peculiar command interface, a primitive search
and replace, and I couldn't get it to edit a file that didn't
already exist.
* No BASIC.
* Wrong DOS reporting; applications that query DOS for version #, looking
for 3.3, might not work.
* No DRIVER.SYS driver, or DRIVPARM command. This may not be too important;
DR DOS automatically recognized my add-on 3.5" disk.
* Incompatibility - this is so important it warrants a whole section:
***** INCOMPATIBILITY ******
DRDOS's biggest problem is that it is not wholly compatible with MSDOS.
For reference, my system is an XT clone with 640K, using a V20 and running
at 12Mhz. Drives: one 32K HD, one 360k floppy, one 720k 3.5" drive.
The incompatibilities I report below did *not* happen when I booted MSDOS
from a floppy.
* Since some of my programs require as much space as possible, I like
the ability to "manage" my TSRs. Under DOS I've used Turbopower
Software's MARK and RELEASE utilities. Unfortunately, RELEASE
hangs the system under DRDOS. I had to hunt around quite a bit to find
programs which worked. (I now use PC Mag's INSTALL and REMOVE, though
I had to patch the latter.)
* One TSR I can no longer manage in this way is my mouse driver. If
I install MOUSE.COM, then remove it, later re-installations won't
work.
* Though DRDOS *does* come with VDISK.SYS, other vdisks I've tried
don't work. In particular, the VLRDISK program posted here recently,
which has the advantage of being reconfigurable on the fly, is
not recognized by DR DOS.
* My 3.5" disk came with a driver and format program, neither of
which I need because DRDOS recognizes the drive. However, when
(as an experiment) I do load the driver, and try to format the
disk, the system says there's no drive there.
* I've been testing a variety of CPM emulators, with a view toward
adopting one for regular use; the two I'm favoring do not
work reliably under DRDOS (one doesn't work at all!)
***** FINAL REMARKS *****
I think D.R. is close to having a good product. If they fix the
incompatibility thing and shrink the TPA usage a bit, then the
positive features should outweigh the negative features.
Sorry about the length of this posting, but...you asked.
--
_ _ _ David A. Ross (Dept.Math.&Stat.,U.ofMN,Duluth)
/ \/ \/ \ BITNET: dross@umndul UUCP: dross@ub.d.umn.edu
/ /--/--/ (...all the opinions expressed herein are facts,
/__/ / \ hence they belong to nobody, least of all me...)