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Hardware and Software Requirements

The various versions of DOS operates with Intel's 8086, 8088, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486 family of microprocessors. DOS-based computers are being used around the world by an estimated fifty million people for thousands of useful applications. This includes hundreds of computer models ranging from desktop to laptop computers from nearly as many suppliers.

With a growing base of complex software programs, the need for more memory and file storage is increasing. Today, it is not uncommon to find DOS-based microprocessors sporting from one to sixteen megabytes (million characters) of memory and 50 to more than 300 million characters (or bytes) of disk storage.


Within the past few years extended memory specifications have been developed to let the microcomputer load greater amounts of executable code and data into memory. Having access to greater amounts of memory achieves greater execution speeds that rival those attained by many minicomputers, giving rise to new breed of super microcomputers.

Your ability to take advantage of large amounts of memory depends on the specific programs you use and the way you configure your computer. However, the most computers using 8086, 8088, and 80286 microprocessors cannot address more than 640 kilobytes (thousand characters) of memory at a time. MS-DOS 5.00 introduced a number of important new upper memory management capabilities to let users of 80286, 80386, and 80486 based microcomputers address large portions of continuos memory above the 1024K level. Using MS-DOS 5.00, computers can load various utilities, including DOS, in memory above the 640K.

Until the advent of DOS 4.01, most DOS-based microcomputers were unable to address more than a 32-megabyte partition of disk space at a time. DOS 4.01 eliminated the 32-megabyte barrier, giving users the ability to manage huge amounts of data on a modern-technology microcomputer.

In addition, higher disk density technology is reducing the cost of hard disks and other storage media, yielding greater storage capabilities and higher access speed at lower costs. This is putting microcomputers within the financial reach of users who operate within even the smallest businesses.


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