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Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

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

Two big things happened in the world of text-based disk operating systems in June 1994.

The first is that Microsoft released MS-DOS version 6.22, the last version of its long-running operating system that would be sold to consumers as a standalone product. MS-DOS would continue to evolve for a few years after this, but only as an increasingly invisible loading mechanism for Windows.

The second was that a developer named Jim Hall wrote a post announcing something called “PD-DOS.”
[...]
PD-DOS would soon be renamed FreeDOS, and 30 years and many contributions later, it stands as the last MS-DOS-compatible operating system still under active development.
[...]
To mark FreeDOS’ 20th anniversary in 2014 [arstechnica.com], we talked with Hall and other FreeDOS maintainers about its continued relevance, the legacy of DOS, and the developers’ since-abandoned plans to add ambitious modern features like multitasking and built-in networking support (we also tried, earnestly but with mixed success, to do a modern day’s work using only FreeDOS [arstechnica.com]).
[...]
For the 30th anniversary, we’ve checked in with Hall again about how the last decade or so has treated the FreeDOS project, why it’s still important, and how it continues to draw new users into the fold. We also talked, strange as it might seem, about what the future might hold for this inherently backward-looking operating system.
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"Compared to about 10 years ago, I’d say the interest level in FreeDOS is about the same," Hall told Ars in an email interview. "Our developer community has remained about the same over that time, I think. And judging by the emails that people send me to ask questions, or the new folks I see asking questions on our freedos-user or freedos-devel email lists, or the people talking about FreeDOS on the Facebook group and other forums, I’d say there are still about the same number of people who are participating in the FreeDOS community in some way."
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Though it's still being downloaded and used, shifts in PC hardware are making it more difficult to install and run FreeDOS directly on a new PC
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One issue is the UEFI firmware used to boot modern PCs. UEFI began replacing the traditional PC BIOS at the tail end of the 2000s, and today, it’s the default mechanism used for booting Windows, macOS, and Linux, though Windows and Linux both technically can still boot on non-UEFI systems.

For a long time, new computers with UEFI firmware still included some kind of legacy compatibility mode to support operating systems like FreeDOS that will only boot in BIOS mode. Many PCs still do, particularly home-built desktop PCs whose motherboards offer users lots of configuration options (your motherboard may refer to BIOS support as “CSM,” which stands for Compatibility Support Module). But plenty of new PCs will only boot using UEFI, and that’s a problem for running FreeDOS directly on the hardware.
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"Maybe it’s possible to replace those parts of the kernel that use BIOS, but a ton of DOS applications and games call BIOS directly. Remember, DOS isn’t like more modern operating systems that use a Hardware Abstraction Layer or HAL, where applications talk to the HAL and the HAL talks to the hardware. A DOS program typically interacted with the hardware directly."

In other words, you could write a version of FreeDOS that could boot on a UEFI system, and you might even be able to write a version that booted on an Arm system. But either change would break the vast majority of existing DOS applications, and running those old applications is the main reason why FreeDOS exists in the first place.
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On the topic of retro PCs, they've actually gotten a bit easier to find and use in the last couple of years. That's thanks in part to the rise of oddball AliExpress hardware like the Book 8088 [arstechnica.com], Hand 386, and Pocket 386 [arstechnica.com]. Though they exist in an ethical gray area at best—the Book 8088 we used shipped with all kinds of old-but-still-copyrighted software on it, plus a BIOS swiped from the open-source community with no attribution—they're also easier to buy and make room for than an actual hoary old IBM PC or suitcase-sized Compaq Deskpro.
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Plenty of people will choose to run actual MS-DOS or IBM PC-DOS on these systems, and MS-DOS is what the manufacturer ships them with. But the benefit of FreeDOS' continuing development is that it can support a few modern amenities that make the retro-computing experience more pleasant.
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Since hitting 1.0 in September of 2006, the project has averaged about one major numbered update every four to six years. You can't do a ton to DOS without trying to make it into something that it isn't; upgrades tend to be gradual and narrowly focused. But work is definitely underway on a collection of updates that Hall says will most likely constitute a FreeDOS 1.4 update.
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Though FreeDOS maintains compatibility with the vast majority of classic DOS software, one thing that current versions can't do is serve as a bootloader for older versions of Windows like 3.1 or 3.11 for Workgroups—at least, it can't run those operating systems in their fully functional "386 Enhanced" modes. Though FreeDOS was started because Hall and others wanted to stay away from Windows, Hall says that support for those old Windows versions is a common user request.

"Maybe when that kernel is ready, we might spin off the test release to be the new “1.4” distribution," said Hall. "But that’s just my thought, I don’t want to get ahead of the community. We discuss everything on the freedos-devel email list, and that’s where we’ll make the decision."

Previously on SoylentNews:
FreeDOS 1.3 released [soylentnews.org] - 20220226
FreeDOS Turns 25 Years Old [soylentnews.org] - 20190702
FreeDOS is 23 Years Old [soylentnews.org] - 20170701
Jim Hall on FreeDOS and the Upcoming 1.2 Release [soylentnews.org] - 20161208

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Retro-Malware: DOS TSRs, Interrupt Handlers, and Far Calls, Part 2 [soylentnews.org] - 20160912
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