The MS-DOS API is an API used in MS-DOS, PC-DOS and other compatible operating systems. The MS-DOS API has been extended with the so-called DOS extenders. DOS extenders such as DOS/4GW have been used in computer games written for DOS. The MS-DOS API is mostly based on x86 code.
Current state of the MS-DOS API
The MS-DOS API lives on in Microsoft Windows as a subsystem on cmd.exe.
Modern movements to maintain compatibility of the MS-DOS API involve FreeDOS and DOSBox. They are both an installable operating system and an emulator respectively. DOSBox has even extended the MS-DOS API to other chipsets outside of x86. The other chipsets DOSBox has extended MS-DOS's API support to include PowerPC, ARM Architecture, MIPS, SPARC, etc.
The MS-DOS API has made its way onto handheld game consoles, such as the GP2X; thanks to DOSBox being ported to the system. And has enabled some DOS games to be played on a handheld device. However, commonly ported DOS games such as DOOM, Quake and Duke Nukem 3D don't need to rely on the MS-DOS API because they were extended to other operating systems and processor architectures through source ports.
Operating systems with support for the MS-DOS API
- FreeDOS (free, open source
- Microsoft Windows (with the aid of a DOS subsystem)
- All versions prior to Windows XP (all non-NT versions are based on DOS anyway)
- Windows XP (home, pro, media center)
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Vista
- MS-DOS (most famous example)
- PC-DOS
- ROM-DOS (a version of DOS specifically for solid state ROM)
Programs with support for the MS-DOS API
Brief list of programs on the MS-DOS API
- Alley Cat (classic IBM PC game)
- COMMAND.COM (command line shell for DOS)
- Windows 1.0
- Windows 2.0
- Windows 3.0
- Windows 3.1