DOS ain't dead

DOS specifications ("standards") (Developers)

posted by awik, 18.11.2020, 16:57

Hi all,

I've long been concerned about the fact that there is a lack of new specifications and standards for DOS programming (or even general usage) insofar as newer technologies are concerned.

I'm hereby volunteering to at least *begin* trying to address this shortage. I am not guaranteeing that I can take this effort to its conclusion, though, because although I have plenty of time on my hands, I also have ADD.

Some of the things I feel need to be done, or at least started, as soon as possible are:
1. large physical memory support (ie. above 4 GB)
2. standardised 64-bit program support
3. MBR amendments to support blocks (sectors) above 4G
4. large file support (llseek, etc.)
5. Memory mapped file API for INT21.
6. SMP (multiprocessing) support

Where it makes sense, existing specifications should be amended, but some things may be better to redo from scratch.

Cheers,
Albert.

Complete thread:

• DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 18.11.2020, 16:57 (Developers)
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 18.11.2020, 18:48
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 18.11.2020, 20:07
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 13:32
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - glennmcc, 18.11.2020, 20:22
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 13:44
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Zyzzle, 19.11.2020, 02:23
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 14:02
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 19.11.2020, 19:11
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Laaca, 19.11.2020, 11:27
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 15:03
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 20.11.2020, 02:04
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - tkchia, 19.11.2020, 14:12
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 15:11
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 19.11.2020, 19:06
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - ecm, 20.11.2020, 16:08
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 21.11.2020, 16:43
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - tkchia, 21.11.2020, 17:37
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 21.11.2020, 18:58
          • DOS specifications ("standards") - tom, 22.11.2020, 14:58
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - marcov, 22.11.2020, 22:35
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 23.11.2020, 05:49
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - 33-bit LBA support - ecm, 23.11.2020, 10:01
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - ecm, 25.12.2020, 21:27
  • Hosting/Sharing - rr, 23.11.2020, 21:19
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Ro2003, 13.01.2024, 09:06
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 16.01.2024, 11:28
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - jadoxa, 17.01.2024, 02:15
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - Rugxulo, 17.01.2024, 03:40