Get To Know The Difference Between DOS And Windows

8 mins read

With the advent of computers in the human world and humans making entry into the digital world, there are two most competitive operating systems, also the most popular operating systems, which remain in the fight to date: Windows and DOS (Disk-Operating System). This article is going to present you with the key differences between Windows and DOS.

Introduction to DOS: A brief history

The reason to introduce DOS prior to Windows is crystal clear. DOS is older than Windows.

DOS stands for Disk Operating System. This means that DOS performs operations related to storage devices i.e., floppy disks and CD-ROMS or any other disk storage devices. Every piece of data saved on any storage medium requires a specific format that must comply with its specification. For example, every byte of information is saved needs to be formatted according to ASCII code.

Also, each file comprises header record and data records where the header contains certain parameters required while saving a particular file. So basically DOS takes care of formatting and storing information into proper formats. There are several other functions associated with DOS including accessing the drives and printers connected to the computer.

Introduction to Windows: A brief history

The Windows Operating System was developed initially by Microsoft Corporation, USA. It comes bundled along with all modern PCs. According to Wikipedia, “Microsoft’s initial goal in developing an integrated graphical environment was to gain market share away from IBM; however, after failing to achieve this goal, the company gradually began focusing more on developing software rather than hardware.” Since then the name Windows became synonymous with PCs around the world. Windows is actually a group of several graphical operating system facilities.

Working of DOS

As stated above DOS works by taking care of formatting and storing information onto disk media. But before going deeper into details about DOS let us know briefly how the entire process of programming operates. A programmer writes down his/her commands in a special language. The compiler converts those codes into binary codes which ultimately make up the executable file. Once the file is ready it gets loaded into the main memory. Now let us see how DOS actually loads the file from the main memory.

As soon as the DOS starts executing, it checks whether the location provided is empty or already occupied. If it finds no free space available, it allocates a new block of size equal to the original file size on top of the existing space thus creating a gap. Then it copies the contents of the source file over this newly created area. After copying it creates a pointer pointing at the end of copied content so that next time it can direct further execution to the last address pointed upon loading the file. By doing this the whole procedure of reading and writing becomes smoother.

In the case of DOS, the user has only limited control over hardware resources whereas Windows provides complete access to everything including system settings. You cannot use the mouse or any other hardware devices to operate the DOS. This means mouse clicks don't work for DOS. You have to make inputs through basic system commands. DOS is a single-tasking operating system. 

Another important aspect relates to security aspects. With the help of passwords, user accounts, and network authentication protocols, OSes try to protect themselves against unauthorized intrusions. Whereas, DOS will never allow unauthorized access to sensitive areas due to lack of necessary permissions. DOS is a single-user and single-tasking interface. Disk Operating System is a character-based interface and the mode of input are codes and text to operate it. The maximum available space in a DOS is 2GB(gigabytes of memory), while Windows has much more space compared to DOS.
DOS can work in smaller systems as it is smaller in size. This makes memory management in DOS easier.

It helps make file management, e.g., creating, editing, deleting files, etc. You don't need to boot up your PC that frequently in the case of DOS. Just in case you do, you may need floppy disk(s) or a floppy drive for the emergency reboot of your PC. A Floppy disk is a type of storage disk composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk. Finally, unlike Windows, DOS cannot run applications written in Java. So there you go. These are some points that make clear the power of DOS over Windows.

Working of Windows

Let us now discuss what exactly happens when we start our machines using Windows Operating Systems. When we turn on our machine either through BIOS or EFI booting methods, the first thing that occurs is checking if the hard drive exists or not. If it doesn't exist, then it searches for the master partition table stored on the primary partition and looks for files called BOOTMGR and NTLDR. Then based on these two files, it selects one of the partitions to load the operating system itself. When the boot loader finishes loading the kernel, it begins searching for the boot sector located on the second stage of Master Boot Record. The next step involves starting the initialization routine responsible for setting up basic device drivers.

After successful completion of initialization routines, the kernel proceeds towards launching application programs. Each program runs independently inside another context known as Process Context, which is also managed by Kernel Mode Services. At present, Windows supports three types of processes namely User mode, Kernel mode, and Device Driver modes. Windows is a multi - user interface. It allows multiple users to work at once, just by signing in and changing users.

Line of difference: DOS versus Windows

• DOS and Windows differ in GUI (graphical user interface) or simply graphical interface. DOS uses a full-text command input(that too without a mouse) whereas Windows uses graphical interface images, icons, and text in their interface.
• Windows eliminated the need of remembering codes to operate the computer with the help of its images and icons. DOS and Windows also differ in terms of registry systems and swap framework(s). DOS uses a directory system, wherein all the files are contained within a particular directory or a subdirectory. Windows uses a much complex directory-based system making it difficult to manually delete files from the system.
• Windows is a user-friendly system(interface). Whereas we encounter DOS as a text-based interface. 
• In terms of storage, for today's generational uses, Windows over-power DOS by giving 2 Terabytes of memory equivalent to 2000 gigabytes of memory.
• In a comparison of number of tasks to be handled, Windows is a multitasking and a multi - user interface. Whereas, DOS is a single-task operating system and has a single user interface. This allows multiple users to work on Windows simultaneously. 
• Command execution is easier and faster in Windows than DOS because of their memory consumption. The more memory your device consumes, the less efficient will it be.
• DOS cannot run the multimedia application(s). Whereas, Windows have an upper hand in this case. Windows OS comes bundled with your PC. While a typical DOS machine runs from a disk drive. Control Panel and voice commands are some features absent in DOS.

Versions of DOS and Windows

• DOS primarily consists of Microsoft's MS-DOS and a rebranded version under the name IBM PC DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981, which dominated the market for four years of its release.
• Earlier versions from different manufacturers included DR DOS, ROM DOS, and FreeDOS.
• The modern version of DOS, which was last updated was PC DOS 7.0 released in April 1995 and was primarily developed by its parent IBM.
• Dated back in November 1985, Windows 1.0 was the first version of the Windows operating system. The latest version is Windows 11, released on October 5, 2021. This Windows version will be free for existing users.

Summing Up

These were some key differences between Windows and DOS. These belong to different operating system families. We have seen the major difference between Windows and DOS, their use in tech world. We have seen the functionality of both the operating systems. Now we do now that Windows uses graphics and icons to distinguish between various files. We came to know that DOS uses textual commands and is less of human touch. DOS is a single programming Operating system.

DOS has a minimum requirement of external commands. And that process management is easier in the case of Windows, because of its space and processing speed. Windows can perform non-text related tasks smoothly as compared to DOS. Hence, in this article, we can conclude with the point that Windows today has an upper hand over DOS.

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