Editing Tandy 2000 (section)

=== Operating system ===
The Tandy 2000 required a specific version of [[MS-DOS]] that would run only on this machine. Standard MS-DOS or [[PC DOS]] (for generic IBM-compatibles) would not run on a Tandy 2000. It was standard practice and Microsoft's expectation at the time that a customized version of MS-DOS would be prepared for each different machine, with I/O drivers designed for the hardware of that model. The highest version of DOS that Tandy Corporation released for the Tandy 2000 was 2.11.03, with a few minor third-party patches after the fact. A modified version of [[Windows 1.0]] was able to run on the Tandy 2000.

MS-DOS for the Tandy 2000 resided entirely in RAM, unlike on IBM PCs where the BIOS portion of the OS resided in ROM. The complete MS-DOS system (BIOS and BDOS) occupied about 53&nbsp;KB of RAM.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harrell |first1=John B. |title=80 Micro, November 1984, page 174, column 2000 PLUS, Memory Management on the Tandy 2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1984-11/page/n175/mode/2up |website=www.archive dot org |date=November 1984 |publisher=CW Communications |accessdate=July 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Byte review of Tandy 2000|url=http://tech-insider.org/personal-computers/research/acrobat/8412-b.pdf|website=tech-insider dot org|accessdate=May 25, 2016}}</ref> This means that the RAM required to run applications on the Tandy 2000 was a little greater. However, the Tandy 2000 fared better in comparison to the later IBM PC-AT in that the AT was required to run MS-DOS version 3.x in order to operate its 1.2&nbsp;MB floppy drives and hard drive. Version 3 of MS-DOS was rather larger than Version 2.x running on the Tandy 2000. It also proved advantageous that the Tandy 2000's OS resided entirely in RAM and therefore could be updated and hacked with rather less effort.

The Microsoft BASIC interpreter was supplied with the computer. It was highly customized for the Tandy 2000 hardware, particularly its high-resolution color graphics. Although IBM produced the Enhanced Graphics Adapter a little more than a year later (October 1984), the Microsoft BASIC interpreter would not support its greater color and resolution capabilities until 1988.

Tandy/Radio Shack produced print advertising featuring [[Bill Gates]] of Microsoft extolling the superior performance of the Tandy 2000 and how it was advantageous in Microsoft's development of Windows 1.0.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Radio Shack print ad with Bill Gates and Tandy 2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oC4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=bill%20gates%20tandy%202000&pg=PA1|magazine=InfoWorld |page=1 |type=Ad |volume=6 |issue=45|access-date=May 23, 2016|date = 5 November 1984}}</ref>