FreeDOS 1.3, the first major release in 5 years, edges closer to a full release
The last major FreeDOS version (1.2) was released in December of 2016... five years ago.
I am a huge fan of FreeDOS.
MS-DOS compatible and completely Free and Open Source Software with the kernel under the GPL v2. I mean, what’s not to love?
Yesterday, the FreeDOS team released version 1.3 Release Candidate 5. Which, in theory, could be the final RC before the final version of 1.3 is unleashed upon the world.
The timing works out pretty well. The last major release of FreeDOS (version 1.2) came out on December 25th of 2016 (five years ago). And 1.1 was at the beginning of January of 2012. So this seems like the time of year that the FreeDOS crew likes to release.
The previous Release Candidate (RC 4) was published way back in April of this year — over 7 months between release candidates!
Jim Hall, the Big Kahuna behind FreeDOS, made a little video introducing 1.3 RC 5:
Big new features, according to
The install CD-ROM is also a live image
Updated the Help program to use AMB (html ebook reader)
Zip and Unzip are now installed as part of the plain DOS system, so users have the tools to create or extract FreeDOS packages outside the package manager
And RC5, specifically, includes:
New FreeCOM 0.85a
New Kernel 2043 and an 8086 version with FAT32 support
Floppy Edition now uses compression and requires about half as many diskettes
The return of networking (disabled in RC4)
Some new programs and games
Many many many package updates
Interestingly, there has been discussion within the FreeDOS crew about whether to make FreeDOS a 32bit DOS… or keep it 16bit. They include this explanation of what they’re working on:
FreeDOS 1.3 will remain 16-bit.
In 1994, FreeDOS aimed to create a free, compatible alternative to MS-DOS. FreeDOS 1.0 met that goal several years ago, and extended the feature set (utilities) beyond MS-DOS 6. But FreeDOS is still - essentially - a replacement of classic 16-bit DOS.
There has been some discussion by developers to create a 32-bit version of FreeDOS:
In December 2014, an independent developer created a Kickstarter project to update the FreeDOS-32 Kernel for use in FreeDOS. This project also suggested some classic DOS applications would break under the updated FreeDOS-32. If FreeDOS-32 will break DOS application compatibility, it should not use the "FreeDOS" name. (Note: this project seems to have stalled.) {Not on Road Map}
More recently, work has started on the Night DOS Kernel; a different project which aims to create from scratch a drop-in Protected Mode replacement for the FreeDOS Kernel which may be used with FreeDOS. This project must demonstrate application compatibility with "classic" DOS programs before the FreeDOS Project would consider including it in the FreeDOS Road Map. The Night Kernel is currently under active development as the developers' freetime allows, but it will likely not be ready for several years, making it not a candidate for inclusion in FreeDOS 1.3. {Not on Road Map}
The idea that FreeDOS could directly support Protected Mode would be a pretty major win for compatibility with a wide range of software.
Specifically, Protected Mode support could open up the possibility of running Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) on top of FreeDOS. Pretty stinkin’ rad.
So when will we see the final release of FreeDOS 1.3? Well. Considering their trend of releasing in December or January… and the duration of the final RC of 1.2 to the final of 1.2 was exactly one month… I’d guess that we’ll see FreeDOS 1.3 some time between December 25th and January 14th.
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