Caldera posts free DOS on Web

DOS is free and on the Internet after Caldera today posted its OpenDOS operating system on its Web site. The OS is based on Novell's DOS 7.0 which Caldera bought last year. That code was, in turn, a development of Digital Research's DR-DOS.

Features of the DOS implementation include multitasking, Personal NetWare peer-to-peer networking, Stacker disk compression, power management, and memory management. The OpenDOS kernel source code will be posted next month, Caldera said in a press release.

Caldera said that OpenDOS supports all DOS applications plus Windows 3.1 and 3.11, Novell NetWare, Windows for Workgroups and Artisoft's LANtastic. The company said it intends OpenDOS to be a free platform for users in research and education, and added that it plans to provide a budget-priced DOS integration environment for users of OpenLinux, it's popular Internet development platform.