When Microsoft announced it would stop developing MS-DOS after 1995, college student Jim Hall "packaged my own extended DOS utilities, as did others," according to [1]the web site for the resulting "FreeDOS" project .

[2]Jim Hall is also Slashdot reader #2,985, and more than 30 years later he's " [3]keeping the dream of the command prompt alive ," writes Ars Technica . In [4]a new article they note that last week the FreeDOS team [5]released version 1.4 , the first new stable update since 2022:

> The release has "a focus on stability" and includes an updated installer, new versions of common tools like fdisk , and format and the edlin text editor. The release also includes updated HTML Help files... As with older versions, the FreeDOS installer is available in multiple formats based on the kind of system you're installing it on. For any "modern" PC (where "modern" covers anything that's shipped since the turn of the millennium), ISO and USB installers are available for creating bootable CDs, DVDs, or USB drives. FreeDOS is also available for vintage systems as a completely separate "Floppy-Only Edition" that fits on 720KB, 1.44MB, or 1.2MB 5.25 and 3.5-inch floppy disks.

Jim Hall [6]composed a detailed introduction to FreeDOS 1.4 here .

He also answered questions from Slashdot's readers [7]back in 2000 and [8]again in 2019 .



[1] http://www.freedos.org/jhall/

[2] https://slashdot.org/~Jim+Hall

[3] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/30-years-later-freedos-is-still-keeping-the-dream-of-the-command-prompt-alive/

[4] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/fire-up-your-compaq-deskpro-freedos-1-4-is-the-first-stable-update-since-2022/

[5] https://www.freedos.org/download/

[6] https://allthingsopen.org/articles/getting-started-with-freedos-1-4-release-candidate-1

[7] https://news.slashdot.org/story/00/01/28/1225206/interview-freedos-leader-jim-hall-answers?sdsrc=rel

[8] https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/06/28/1933239/the-slashdot-interview-with-freedos-founder-jim-hall?sdsrc=rel