[ ^ ] Introduction

Micro-FAQ:

• What is the Free Software for DOS site?
  • This site has been on the web, in one form or another, since 1994. It's really just a "personal favorites" list of free (emphasis on *free*) DOS programs which has undergone a process of slow accretion over the years. The site is maintained by one person (a biologist, not a computer professional), with much helpful input from others. I'm an end-user, not a programmer -and not much of a hacker. With that in mind, you can determine the intended audience of this list. Although huge freeware sites for Win9x are commonplace, DOS is apparently dead enough, commercially speaking, to allow a non-techie site like this to get noticed more than it should.

• What types of programs are (and are not) listed?
  • Programs should run under MS-DOS 6.x (and/ or previous versions). What's not listed here (yet) are command interface Win32 console programs for Win9x/NT, although you should see a mention of these if they are paired with a DOS counterpart. I've included some Win3x programs that may interest DOS users.
  • The list generally comprises programs friendly enough for most home PC end-users and is not really geared toward the network or business user, programmer, or DOS power user. Because this list was never intended to be exhaustive, there exist huge gaps in coverage:
    • Power users will not find the entire spectrum of Unixish programs, no batch tips or files, program patches, drivers, text documents, or extremely specialized programs. No game, printing, programming, network or DOS Internet programs (except browsers) are currently listed.
    • I haven't been consistent listing DOS version, processor, or video requirements for many programs because that information is often not available from the docs. No serious attempt has been made to determine which programs run on old PC's (e.g., 8088, 286). Many programs here are old and may or may not not be Year 2000 compliant.
  • Try perusing the SimtelNet, Garbo, and other ftp sites for programs not found here. I've collected a short list of DOS freeware sites that I frequent because information is presented in a direct and readable manner.

• Can I mail you a program suggestion or other comments?
  • Yes- the quality of this list is more attributable to others than myself. Unfortunately, I can't always respond to e-mail in a timely fashion so please forgive me in advance. Send mail
  • Although I gladly accept a suggestion from a program's own author, please note that this isn't a repository for unfinished programs or all new releases. Programs should be useful to end-users and have a significant distinguishing feature over programs already posted here. Thanks.

• Why create a freeware list devoted to a "dying, obsolete" operating system?
  • For a variety of reasons, a still-significant proportion of computer users can't (or won't) transition to 32-bit environments like Linux, OS/2, or NT. For many, DOS remains a sufficient and productive operating system for home use. I often hear that new desktop PC's are so cheap that there's no good reason for hanging onto an old machine. "Cheap" is relative; also consider how many of us hang onto older laptops which, by any measure, remain pricey.
  • I've also sensed a general under-appreciation of the potential for cross-platform usage of many DOS programs, e.g., OS/2 includes great DOS support; DOSEMU provides DOS emulation under Linux.
  • The number and diversity of quality freeware programs developed for DOS over 15+ years are staggering.
  • As DOS exits from use in commercial and business environments, it is becoming more of a freeware developer's OS; also some excellent DOS shareware have now been re-calssified as freeware by their authors.
  • There should be an increasing historical/ nostalgic interest in older hardware and DOS as the years pass. A small but devoted group of hobbyists enjoy the fun challenge of using old PC's and DOS. Although hard for some to fathom, the limitations of DOS create the challenge....and thus, the enjoyment.
  • More than anything, I'm creating the list as a fun experiment in HTML and freeware, and for me, DOS represents a manageable "model."

• Your site is [too cumbersome] / [so easy] to navigate.
  • Perspective and preference.
    • 1) The rather plain HTML design of this site is intentional: these pages should be navigable with any browser or offline HTML viewer (text mode or GUI). While frames, tables, and graphics are beautiful and easy on the eye in MSIE and Netscape, they often are nothing but distracting noise in text mode environments. Unfortunately most software site designers have unintentionally ignored or intentionally abandoned the low resource PC audience.
    • 2) Addressing page layout, this site attempts to reflect a "re-usable reference" style rather than a quick list of freebies. Layout and organization differ significantly from most commercial sites (which may house huge collections but sometimes suffer from inefficient presentation (e.g., "scroll, scroll, scroll"). Everyone's subjective "taxonomy" of software classification differs, and I've attempted to address at least some of that variation, e.g., use of sub-categories for large program groups, both functional and alphanumeric indices, liberal cross referencing in text, and redundant listings (i.e., progs can be listed on more than one page). The end goal is to help the reader more easily locate programs of interest.

[ ^ ] Acknowledgments . . .

To the generous and thoughtful programmers who create some very enjoyable and useful software. Second, to the FTP sites, administrators, and mirrors who grant free access to their file collections. And to those who submit tips to the DOS newsgroups- some of the gems here were first discovered through newsgroups. A big thanks to all those who have so graciously offered advice, correction, and support. And to my girlfriend who patiently endures this addiction.

Special persons who have contributed to this effort: Too many wonderful people to list...Robert Bull, Tomas Brunclik, Greg Head, Scott Nesbitt, Arturo Padilla, Lars-Erik Sandberg, Dev Teelucksingh, Marianna Van Erp, and Jennifer Zahn. Very special thanks to: Bjørn Simonsen whose wisdom and patient advice throughout have been invaluable, and Howard Schwartz who has contributed several excellent reviews to this compilation. Also, thanks go to Yves Bellefeuille, Bob Appleton, and Dev Teelucksingh for their immensely helpful freeware lists. (Of course, all errors included within are my own invention!)

Rich Green
Newport Coast, CA [USA]

Staff

For reference: hardware collection and OS usage:

• 1991 Swan (Samsung) laptop. 386sx/20 (C&T), 387 FPU, 8MB RAM, 40MB HD (Stacked), greyscale VGA (256K), no soundcard, Backpack parallel port CD-ROM. MS-DOS 6.22, and sometimes tomsrtbt Linux.
• 1993 Gateway desktop 486DX/33, 32MB RAM, 200MB HD, SVGA (<1MB), CD-ROM, no soundcard. Win95.
• 1994 AST desktop P60 w/ bug, 8MB RAM, 420MB HD, SVGA (1MB), no soundcard. DR-DOS 7.01, OS/2 Warp (FAT, Stacked), WFW 3.11.
• 1999 HP desktop PII/400, 96 MB RAM, 12 GB HD, SVGA (8MB), 100MB ZIP drive, CD-ROM, sound card.. Win98, DOSLinux.
• ...an old commodore 64 ('84), Mac Classic ('88?), Mac laptop ('95).