Editing 4DOS (section)

==History and current status==
Originally distributed as [[shareware]], 4DOS has been later released as unsupported [[freeware]]. Currently, the source code is available under a modified [[MIT License]] but it "may not be used in any commercial product without written permission from Rex C. Conn"<ref name="License"/> and "may not be compiled for use on any operating system other than [[FreeDOS]]" – so does not qualify as open source as defined by [[Open Source Initiative]].<ref name="Hall"/><ref name="OpenSource"/>

The last update by JP Software was version 7.50.130, released in August 2004. During its 15-year history, 4DOS underwent numerous updates; here are a few of the most significant.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ {{sronly|History and current status}}
|-
! scope=col | Version
! scope=col | Released
! scope=col | New features
|- id="2.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;" | 2.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1989-02-15
| style="vertical-align:top;"| Original release. Improved command-line editing, filename completion, command history, aliases, improved wildcards, online help, internal variables, swapping to disk or [[Expanded memory|EMS]], file descriptions,<ref name="JP_1989_DESC"/> command separator, key stacker.
|- id="2.20"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"| 2.20
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1989-07-05
| style="vertical-align:top;"| Executable extensions.
|- id="3.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"| 3.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1990-03-07
| style="vertical-align:top;"| [[Batch file|BTM]] batch files (cached to memory for speed), [[extended memory]] (XMS) swapping, variable functions, bracket variable-name syntax.
|- id="4.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"| 4.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1991-11-01
| style="vertical-align:top;"| Colored directory listings, 4DOS.INI configuration file, include lists, command groups, implied CDD, DOS 5 [[Upper memory area|Upper Memory Blocks]] (UMB) support.
|- id="5.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;" | 5.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1993-11-23
| style="vertical-align:top;"| Date, time, and size ranges; compressed batch files.
|- id="5.51"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"| 5.51
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1995-08-22
| style="vertical-align:top;"| [[Long filename]] support, [[Rexx|REXX]] in .BAT files (as in PC&nbsp;DOS 7.0).
|- id="6.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"| 6.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 1997-07-24
| style="vertical-align:top;"| Extended directory searches, interactive configuration (OPTION command), exclusion ranges, interactive batch file debugger.
|- id="7.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"|7.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 2001-06-18
| @file lists (as in [[DR-DOS]]).
|- id="7.50"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"|7.50
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 2003-02-24
| User-defined functions.
|- id="7.50.1"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"|7.50.1
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 2006-11-13
| Source available version of 7.50. Luchezar Georgiev and Jaelani Utomo have continued developing 4DOS.<ref name="Revived"/>
|- id="8.00"
! scope=row style="vertical-align:top;"|8.00
| style="white-space: nowrap; vertical-align:top;"| 2009-02-27
| Latest version.<ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP"/>
|}