| Timeline:
In May 1982, Microsoft released MS-DOS v1.1 to IBM, for the IBM PC. It supported
320KB double-sided floppy disk drives. Microsoft also released MS-DOS v1.25,
similar to v1.1 but for IBM-compatible computers.
In March 1983, MS-DOS v2.0 for PCs is announced. It was written from scratch,
supporting 10 MB hard drives, a tree-structured file system, and 360 KB floppy
disks. October saw IBM introducing PC-DOS v2.1 with the IBM PCjr.
In March 1984, Microsoft released MS-DOS v2.1 for the IBM PCjr. Microsoft released
MS-DOS v2.11 a short time later. It included enhancements to better allow conversion
into different languages and date formats. In August, Microsoft released MS-DOS
v3.0 for PCs. It added support for 1.2MB floppy disks, and bigger (than 10 MB)
hard disks. In November, Microsoft released MS-DOS v3.1, adding support for
Microsoft networks.
In January 1986, Microsoft released MS-DOS v3.2. It added support for 3.5-inch
720 KB floppy disk drives. Microsoft released MS-DOS v3.25 as well.
In April 1987, IBM announced DOS v3.3 for PCs, for $120. In August Microsoft
shipped MS-DOS v3.3. In November Compaq shipped MS-DOS v3.31 with support for
over 32MB drives.
In 1988 Digital Research transformed CP/M into DR DOS. In June Microsoft released
MS-DOS v4.0, including a graphical/mouse interface. In July IBM shipped DOS
v4.0, which included a shell menu interface and support for hard disk partitions
over 32 MB. In November Microsoft released MS-DOS v4.01.
In April 1990, Microsoft introduced Russian MS-DOS v4.01 for the Soviet market.
May saw Digital Research releasing DR DOS v5.0.
In June 1991, Microsoft released MS-DOS v5.0. It added a full-screen editor,
undelete and unformat utilities and task swapping. GW-BASIC is replaced with
Qbasic, based on Microsoft's QuickBASIC. In September Digital Research Inc.
releases DR DOS v6.0, for $100.
In March 1993, Microsoft introduced the MS-DOS v6.0 upgrade, including DoubleSpace
disk compression. 1 million copies of the new and upgraded versions were sold
through retail channels within the first 40 days. In November, Microsoft released
MS-DOS v6.2.
In February 1994, Microsoft released MS-DOS v6.21, removing DoubleSpace disk
compression. April IBM releases PC-DOS v6.3. In June Microsoft releases MS-DOS
v6.22, bringing back disk compression under the name DriveSpace.
In February 1995, IBM announced PC DOS v7, with integrated data compression
from Stac Electronics (Stacker). In April, IBM released PC DOS v7. In August
of 1995 Microsoft introduced Windows 95, it included MS DOS v7.0 but it's clear
that DOS is going to remain a constant for several years to come.
DOS HISTORY CHART: (system file sizes in bytes)
| DOS TYPE AND VERSION |
DATE |
COMMAND.COM |
IO.SYS or IBMBIO.COM |
MSDOS.SYS or IBMDOS.COM |
| PC 1.0 |
8-4-81 |
3,231 |
1,920 |
6,400 |
| MS 1.0 |
8-4-81 |
3,231 |
1,920 |
6,400 |
| PC 1.1 |
5-7-82 |
4,959 |
1,920 |
6,400 |
| PC 2.0 |
3-8-83 |
17,792 |
4,608 |
17,152 |
| MS 2.0 |
3-8-83 |
17,792 |
4,608 |
17,152 |
| PC 2.1 |
10-20-83 |
17,792 |
4,736 |
17,024 |
| MS 2.11 |
11-17-83 |
15,957 |
6,836 |
17,176 |
| PC 2.11 |
5-30-84 |
18,272 |
5,120 |
17,408 |
| PC 3.0 |
8-14-84 |
22,042 |
8,964 |
27,920 |
| MS 3.0 |
8-14-84 |
22,042 |
8,964 |
27,920 |
| PC 3.1 |
3-7-85 |
23,210 |
9,564 |
27,760 |
| MS 3.1 |
3-7-85 |
23,210 |
9,564 |
27,760 |
| PC 3.2 |
12-30-85 |
23,791 |
16,369 |
28,477 |
| MS 3.2 |
7-7-86 |
23,612 |
16,138 |
28,480 |
| MS 3.21 |
5-1-87 |
23,948 |
18,501 |
28,480 |
| PC 3.3 |
3-17-87 |
25,307 |
22,100 |
30,159 |
| MS 3.3 |
7-24-87 |
25,276 |
22,357 |
30,128 |
| MS 3.3a |
2-2-88 |
25,308 |
22,398 |
30,128 |
| MS 4.0 |
10-6-88 |
37,254 |
32,874 |
36,903 |
| MS 4.01 |
11-30-88 |
37,396 |
33,173 |
37,180 |
| PC 4.01 |
4-3-89 |
37,396 |
33,173 |
37,180 |
| MS 4.01a |
4-7-89 |
37,557 |
33,337 |
37,376 |
| MS 5.0 |
4-9-91 |
33,430 |
37,394 |
47,845 |
| PC 5.0 |
5-9-91 |
47,987 |
33,430 |
37,378 |
| PC 5.001a |
2-28-92 |
48,006 |
33,446 |
37,378 |
| PC 5.02 |
9-1-92 |
47,990 |
33,718 |
37,362 |
| MS 6.0 |
3-10-93 |
52,925 |
40,470 |
38,138 |
| IBM 6.1 |
6-29-93 |
52,589 |
40,964 |
38,138 |
| PC 6.1 |
9-30-93 |
52,797 |
40,964 |
38,138 |
| MS 6.2R0 |
9-30-93 |
54,619 |
40,566 |
38,138 |
| MS 6.22 |
5-31-94 |
54,645 |
40,774 |
38,138 |
| PC 6.3 |
12-31-93 |
54,654 |
40,758 |
37,174 |
**Note: Microsoft had no official version of MS DOS prior to DOS 3.2. Only
OEM versions were sold with the PC by the computer manufacture.
|
