Editing FreeDOS (section)

== Compatibility ==
=== Hardware ===
FreeDOS requires a [[PC/XT]] machine with at least 640 kB of memory.<ref name="Lowe_2003"/> Programs not bundled with FreeDOS often require additional system resources.

=== MS-DOS and Win32 console ===
FreeDOS is mostly compatible with MS-DOS. It supports COM executables, standard DOS executables and Borland's [[16-bit]] [[DOS Protected Mode Interface|DPMI]] executables. It is also possible to run [[32-bit]] DPMI executables using [[DOS extender]]s. The operating system has several improvements relative to MS-DOS, mostly involving support for newer standards and technologies that did not exist when Microsoft ended support for MS-DOS, such as [[internationalization]], or the [[Advanced Power Management]] [[Terminate-and-stay-resident program|TSRs]].<ref name="Techworld"/> Furthermore, with the use of HX DOS Extender, many [[Windows Console]] applications function properly in FreeDOS, as do some rare [[GUI]] programs, like [[QEMM]] and [[Bochs]].<ref name="Grech_2014"/>

=== DOS-based Windows ===
FreeDOS is able to run [[Windows 1.0x|Microsoft Windows 1.0]] and [[Windows 2.0x|2.0]] releases. [[Windows 3.x]] releases, which had support for [[i386]] processors, cannot fully be run in [[386 Enhanced Mode]],<ref name="Aitor_2014"/> except partially in the experimental FreeDOS [[kernel (operating system)|kernel]] 2037.{{Citation needed |date=February 2017}}

[[Windows 95]], [[Windows 98]] and [[Windows Me]] use a stripped-down version of MS-DOS. FreeDOS cannot be used as a replacement because the undocumented interfaces between MS-DOS 7.0–8.0 and Windows "4.xx" are not emulated by FreeDOS; however, it can be installed and used beside these systems using a [[boot manager]] program, such as <code>[[BOOTMGR]]</code> or <code>METAKERN</code> included with FreeDOS.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

=== Windows NT and ReactOS ===
[[Windows NT]]-based operating systems, including [[Windows 2000]], [[Windows XP|XP]], [[Windows Vista|Vista]], [[Windows 7|7]], [[Windows 8|8]], [[Windows 8.1|8.1]], [[Windows 10|10]] and [[Windows 11|11]] for desktops, and [[Windows Server 2003]], [[Windows Server 2008|2008]] and [[Windows Server 2008 R2|2008 R2]] for servers, do not make use of MS-DOS as a core component of the system. These systems can make use of the [[File Allocation Table|FAT]] [[file system]]s which are used by MS-DOS and earlier versions of [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]; however, they typically use the [[NTFS]] (New Technology File System) by default for security and other reasons. FreeDOS can co-exist on these systems on a separate [[disk partition|partition]] or on the same partition on FAT systems. The FreeDOS kernel can be booted by adding it to the Windows 2000 or XP's NT Boot Loader configuration file, '''[[boot.ini]]''',<ref name="Herbert_2004"/> or the '''freeldr.ini''' equivalent for [[ReactOS]].<ref name="ReactOS"/>

=== Virtualization ===
FreeDOS is designed to work well with virtualization software such as VirtualBox and VMware. The installation process is identical to real hardware. It is also possible to install FreeDOS on [[DOSBox]] and its derivatives. By doing so, it provides additional functionality not present in the emulator.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=89272 | title=Installing FreeDOS tools on DOSBox using FDIMPLES \ VOGONS }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Installing FreeDOS in DOSBox-X |url=https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide:Installing-FreeDOS |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=dosbox-x.com}}</ref>

=== File systems ===
[[File:Fdedit.png|thumb|FreeDOS's default text editor—a clone of the [[MS-DOS Editor]], with added features]]
[[File Allocation Table#FAT32|FAT32]] is fully supported and is the preferred format for the boot drive.<ref name="Hilpert_2015_Bootable_Stick"/> Depending on the [[BIOS]] used, up to four [[Logical Block Addressing]] (LBA) hard disks of up to 128 GB, or 2 TB, in size are supported.<ref name="Mueller_2013"/> There has been little testing with large disks, and some BIOSes support LBA, but produce errors on disks larger than 32 GB; a driver such as OnTrack or EZ-Drive resolves this problem.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}} FreeDOS can also be used with a driver called <code>LFNDOS</code> to enable support for Windows 95-style long file names,<ref name="Gallagher_2014_Old-school"/> but most pre-Windows 95 programs do not support long file names, even with a driver loaded. There is no planned support for NTFS, [[ext2]] or [[exFAT]], but there are several external third-party drivers available for that purpose. To access ext2 file systems, <code>LTOOLS</code>, a counterpart to [[Mtools]], can sometimes be used to copy data to and from ext2 file system drives.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}