One OpenAI-compatible AI gateway for production AI — adaptive routing, load balancing, guardrails, agent firewall, observability and governance across 200+ models.
layout: default
heading: Welcome to BASIC-DOS
permalink: /
PC DOS Reimagined
Read the Blog, check out the Preview, see a few of the original Demos, and then Download the current release.
Download
The current BASIC-DOS release diskette is a bootable 360K diskette with BASIC-DOS, a "basic" set of utilities, a collection of BASIC samples (all from PC DOS 1.00), and a few demo programs. See it running on the BASIC-DOS Release page, or download BASICDOS-360K, a diskette image that most PC emulators can boot, or which can be written to a genuine 360K diskette.
When we say that BASIC-DOS comes with a "basic" set of utilities, we mean that both figuratively and literally, because while some are written in assembly language, many are in fact written in BASIC, including CHKDSK, FORMAT, MODE, and more. BASIC-DOS takes its commitment to BASIC integration, performance, and ease-of-use very seriously.
Project Status
BASIC-DOS began as a technology demo: a reimagining of what the first IBM PC operating system could have been, with a unified DOS and BASIC command interpreter, preemptive multitasking sessions, and other features that PC DOS wouldn't offer for years (if ever). The goal now is to turn it into a usable product.
It is not a goal to provide every PC DOS function, or to be 100% compatible with PC DOS. BASIC-DOS implements what its own commands and BASIC programs need, plus enough of the PC DOS API to run typical DOS programs, so unchecked items below are possibilities, not commitments.
This section tracks what's been completed ([x]) and what remains ([ ]). Items marked partial work, but with known gaps.
Boot and System Configuration
Boot sector that loads the BASIC-DOS drivers, kernel, and interpreter
Boot message (removable with SYS /N); pressing certain keys within 2 seconds of the boot message can alter the boot process: Esc allows a floppy to boot from a hard disk instead, P selects protected-mode, and R selects real-mode
Booting BASIC-DOS from a hard disk partition (eg, a disk built with pc.js --sys=bd:2), which becomes the default drive
CONFIG.SYS support for AUX, BUFFERS, CON, CPU, DEVICE, FILES, MEMSIZE, PATHCHAR, PRN, RING, SESSIONS, SHELL, SKIP, and SWITCHAR
CON, AUX, and PRN are names for each session's console, AUX, and PRN devices rather than drivers: CON= defines the console (VKD$ or a serial port) of the next SHELL= line's session, which otherwise gets a full-screen VKD$ console, and AUX= and PRN= choose any device (COM1 and LPT1 by default); without one (eg, no LPT1), opening the name fails, and its handle stays reserved
SKIP= lists built-in drivers (by their exact device names, separated by commas) that should not be loaded (eg, SKIP=VKD$,FPU$); a skipped driver is never initialized, and its memory is reclaimed (CPU$, which manages memory, can't be skipped)
Installable device drivers (DEVICE=)
Critical ("hard") error handling: block device errors go to the session's INT 24h handler (called on a DOS stack, with PC DOS inputs and responses; in real mode, the stack is the second half of the interrupt vector table, so vectors 80h-FFh aren't available), and the default handler displays the traditional "Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?" prompt (see Critical Errors)
