I'm currently building a machine for a) text-editing and B) DOS gaming. The first purpose will be fulfilled easily enough by Windows 98, but I am a bit unsure which version of DOS to use (note: it's not a dual-boot system, DOS will run from a completely different HDD).

So, should I use Dos 6.2, 7.1 or the FreeDos thingy? What are the points for and against each of th4ese choices? (note: I have already got a full CD copy of DOS 7.1)

Dos 6.2 is the most 'pure' DOS of them all and will give no compatibility problems. DOS 7.1 is probably more or less covered in your Win98 installation. I am however , very charmed by FreeDOS (mostly because I'm an Open Source evangelist). Most games seem to run in FreeDOS without any problems. FreeDOS is also a true 32-bit OS, which should have superior memory managment and less of the LMB problems the 'real' DOS had.

I'd go for the "pure" 6.22, too. Although FreeDOS seems very good. Maybe those people learned from the mistakes Microsoft made. btw, is FreeDOS 100% compatible with MS-DOS?

Check out freedos.sourceforge.net
Afaik, they've gotten most of the DOS compatibilty done, but you can't run some shells yet, like Win3.11 on it for instance.

Go for dos7.10 it is still original dos and is quiet good.

I tried 7.1 once, I deleted it immediately. It just didn't feel like DOS anymore.

Gone through some trouble with the thing. I'll see if I could switch to FreeDos, at the moment it's Dos 7.1

Just curious:
was DOS 7.1 ever available as a standalone product? I can only remember it being once bundeled with Windows (95? 98? ME? ,don't know).


Edit:
erm, are we talking about MS DOS or PC DOS (Caldera)?

Windows 95 had Dos 6, AFAIK.

Windows 98 had Dos 7.

I've got a stand-alone MS-DOS 7.1 right in front of me.

I think some people 'freed' it and made it available on the internet. You know, disk images and like that.