Windows 7 64-bit recently declined to run one of my old DOS based utility programs; it politely said “I’m not running this, its 2010 and time for you to upgrade”. I make a living running applications via means that weren’t really intended, so I did a bit of research.
Came across DOSBox on the internet and promptly installed it onto my USB Thumb drive using PortableApps.com. Fired up a DOS Box, then ran my utility and poof! Everything works.
For more interesting worlds and better demos, I also ran Turbo Pascal from Borland. Here’s a snapshot of DOSBox running from removable media, with Turbo Pascal integrated development environment run off of my local C: volume, with source code typed in from memory and an output window visible DOS style that proves it runs.
Oh, happy memories of a good friend.
I write this post more for asking questions than to provide too much useful advice.
Questions
- Does the license for DOSBox permit corporate usage?
- Is DOSBox a CPU pig or a good citizen?
- Has anyone actually used this for anything important?
- Is this a valid solution to DOS application needs on 64-bit Windows?
- Why would any sane person do this when they can use Med-V?
- Has Borland posted Turbo Pascal 6? I seem to have lost my copy
Enjoy
Joe Nord Product Architect – Citrix Systems XenApp Product Group
App Streaming, Profile Manager, Encrypted Data Plug-in
