FreeDOS | The FreeDOS Project

Welcome to FreeDOS

AsEasyAs spreadsheet running on FreeDOS

What is FreeDOS?
FreeDOS is a free DOS-compatible operating system that can be used to play games, run legacy software, or support embedded systems. FreeDOS is basically like the old MS-DOS, but better! For example, FreeDOS lets you access FAT32 file systems and use large disk support (LBA) — a feature not available in MS-DOS, and only included in Windows 95 and newer.
Is FreeDOS really free?
Yes, FreeDOS is really free. It doesn't cost anything to download and run FreeDOS. Even better, FreeDOS is open source software; you can view and edit our source code. All FreeDOS programs are distributed under the GNU General Public License ("GNU GPL") or a similar open source license. Because we are open source software, anyone can contribute to it. Even if you don't write code, you can help out the FreeDOS Project by reporting bugs.
What programs can I run in FreeDOS?
FreeDOS is a complete, free, DOS-compatible operating system. While we provide our own programs and utilities, you should be able to run any program that was intended for MS-DOS. You can even do networking! However, you may experience problems running Windows on FreeDOS. For example, Windows standard-mode works on FreeDOS, but 386-mode Windows for Workgroups 3.11 does not.
How do I install FreeDOS?
To install, simply download the FreeDOS 1.1 CD image. Write this to a blank CD, and boot your computer with it. The automated installer should walk you through the rest. If you need help, please read the FreeDOS Install HOWTO (this is for VirtualBox, but should apply to any PC.)
What do I need to run FreeDOS?
FreeDOS should run on any standard PC, although you will need at least an Intel ‘386 or better processor and a CDROM drive if you want to install FreeDOS using our standard CD image. 2MB or more memory recommended for best performance, and 40MB disk space. If you are new to DOS, we recommend you use a PC emulator such as VirtualBox to install and boot FreeDOS. You can find PC emulators for all computer platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac.) You can even run FreeDOS using a PC emulator written in Java, right in your web browser!
How can I contribute to FreeDOS?
We welcome new users to FreeDOS. You can contribute to the FreeDOS Project by downloading our latest release and telling us what you think. If you find a problem, please report a bug, to help us improve FreeDOS. By participating in the development and debugging process, you help everyone. Also, consider joining the email lists. If you are a programmer, please also check the software list and see what needs to still be done!

On June 29, 1994, we announced an effort to create a completely free version of DOS, that everyone could use. That was the start of The FreeDOS Project, 20 years ago! Since then, we have advanced what DOS could do, adding new functionality and making DOS easier to use. And today in 2014, people continue to use FreeDOS to support embedded systems, to run business software, and to play classic DOS games!

WCD 5.2.5

2014-06-12 8:20

On June 10, Erwin Waterlander updated his WCD (Wherever Change Directory) to 5.2.5. "WCD is a command-line program to change directory fast. It saves time typing at the keyboard. One needs to type only a part of a directory name and WCD will jump to it. WCD has a fast selection method in case of multiple matches and allows aliasing and banning of directories. WCD also includes a full screen interactive directory tree browser with speed search." Read what's new or grab various binaries and (GPLv2) sources either at his homepage or at the iBiblio mirror.

Mined 2014.24

2014-06-08 9:47

On June 6, Thomas Wolff released Mined 2014.24, his console text editor with mouse, menus, data loss prevention, and (most important) Unicode 6.3 support. Read the full changelog and grab DJGPP binaries and sources at http://towo.net/mined/ or at the iBiblio mirror.

GCC 4.9.0 (2.04 libc only)

2014-04-27 5:37

Thanks to volunteers at the DJGPP project, we now have binaries available for GCC 4.9.0 (2.04 libc only). This includes C / C++ / ObjC / Fortran / Ada, so testers welcome. Read the announcement, see the changes, or grab binaries and sources from your local mirror.

dos2unix 6.0.5

2014-04-22 7:45

Erwin Waterlander posted a new version of dos2unix. Version 6.0.5 has no functional changes for DOS. Practically all changes are related to new translations of the UI messages and the manual. Changes for DOS include: - Dos2unix is part of the Translation Project (TP). New translations of UI messages: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (traditional), Danish, French, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese. - New translations of the manual: Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Polish, Ukrainian. Download from dos2unix home page.

Welcome to FreeDOS

What's New?

FreeDOS is 20 years old!

WCD 5.2.5

Mined 2014.24

GCC 4.9.0 (2.04 libc only)

dos2unix 6.0.5