How to use MS-DOS on Windows or macOS

Before Windows it was like that MS DOS– that’s the Microsoft Disk Operating System, if you’re not familiar with it – a text-based operating system with command-line interface that provided the way to manage files and launch applications on non-Apple computers.

It was a lot sparser and a lot less user-friendly than the operating systems we use today, but if you’re old enough to remember it, you know it was groundbreaking for the time and still has some charm left. Today.

Although modern computers are much more powerful than those from the heyday of MS-DOS, you can still use the old operating system. You just need the right program and there are a few different options to choose from.

Maybe you want to run some classic applications or games from the past, or maybe you’re interested in this part of computer history, or maybe you’re just a little nostalgic, but whatever your reasons, here’s how to run MS-DOS today can still be used on Windows or macOS.

How to set up DOSBox-X

As we mentioned, there are several ways to get MS-DOS running on modern systems, to suit different setups and requirements, and we can’t cover them all here. For this guide, we’ll focus on the DOSBox-X emulator: It’s free to use, easy to set up, and a good starting point for most people.

By the DOSBox-X home pagedownload the version of the emulator that suits your system: Windows, macOS or Linux. Run the downloaded file and when the installation process is complete, you will be left with a standalone program that you can run to launch a window with an MS-DOS environment.

Don’t panic if you’ve never used DOS before and find the interface a bit intimidating: you can type “HELP” and then press Enter to see a list of available commands, or press “INTRO” and then press Enter for a quick tour of DOSBox-X, and an introduction to its features. There is also an extensive wiki file online that you can use find here.

For starters, you won’t be able to see any files on your computer. To fix this, type ‘MOUNT C’, then a space, then a folder on your computer, then press Enter. So type “MOUNT CD:\GAMES” followed by Enter would create a C drive in DOSBox-X that points to the D:\Games folder on your actual system.

You then type “C:” and Enter to switch to the disk, and “DIR” and Enter to see its contents. You can move any files you want to see through DOSBox-X to this folder in Windows or macOS, so for example any games or applications you want to access in the MS-DOS environment.

How to use DOSBox-X

If you’ve used MS-DOS before, you’ll be right at home. If you haven’t already, you should brush up on the commands (we’ve already mentioned a few). You can find a lot of help with this online, including in the official DOSBox-X wiki.

To really get the most out of MS-DOS, you’ll need to install some software. Getting this up and running is as simple as moving the necessary executables to the folder you mounted earlier and then typing in the name of the app or game. You can also use the Mainly menu and click Quick start program to find an executable file that way.

As with many emulators, DOSBox-X itself is legal, but technically you should have licenses for the software you use, if it’s not freeware. We’ll leave that to your own conscience, but since all of these programs are long out of development, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter a legal team contacting you.

Online you will find huge libraries of MS-DOS games, including those on the Internet Archive. There are titles included here Fate, Microsoft Flight Simulator, The secret of Monkey Island, Prince of Persia, SimCityand many others you may remember from the 1980s and 1990s when systems ran MS-DOS. There are also many productivity software available on the Internet, including the classic word processor WordStar.
Dig deeper into the DOSBox-X menus and the configuration files that come with the program, and you’ll find plenty more options to play with, such as settings for how sound and video are handled in the emulator. Again, there is plenty of help available the official wiki if you get stuck.