A program written for DOS can be used on an IBM compatible PC using either DOS, Windows 3.1 or WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP for an operating system. Programs written for WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP can be run only on the WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP operating system.
Our software will not run on VISTA without outside help. Microsoft has virtual PC software
that can be downloaded free at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx
This will not work with the home edition of VISTA
There is a free program called DOSBOX emulator. It can be downloaded from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dosbox
You can install a dual operating system to use our software. Google it.
We do not provide tech support for any of these outside solutions.
We love the beautiful graphics on WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP and wouldn't be without it. Surfing the net would be boring in plain text (although it would be a lot faster). Many of the programs we use for our own business are graphics heavy and require WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP. We do have more problems with programs written for Windows than ours which are written for DOS.
In case you are confused about the term "operating system", the original operating system on IBM compatible PC's was DOS (Disk Operating System). It began in the early 80's and was the major operating system until Windows 95 was released (Windows 3.1 is not an operating system - it is a graphical interface that uses DOS). Windows was designed to make it easier for computer operators to operate programs without having to learn typing and DOS commands. It accomplished what it was designed to do. While many businesses had been using computers for years, home users took to computers like never before.
Over the years DOS has been debugged and improved to the point where it is basically fault free. On the other hand, WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP with it's graphical interface is very complex and really understood by very few individuals. When something goes wrong, you'll probably have to call for help. Even Microsoft realizes how time consuming it can be to troubleshoot WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP problems. Where as they used to give free unlimited technical support for DOS, they only give you limited free support for Windows. Then you'll have to pay for tech support. While tech support for Windows programs is free from lots of vendors, they find it easy to shift the blame for their problems to WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP (which is probably true in most cases). We provide unlimited tech support on our programs at no charge.
Tech support for the WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP operating system is very time consuming and can be very expensive. We have heard of customers paying up to $100 per hour for someone to try and get their Windows operating system to work. Some of these "experts" know little more than their customers.
Lots of time is wasted in WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP restarting and reentering data in locked up programs. If you have any doubt, enter "WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP problems" on an internet search engine with your browser. Information is being added faster than you can read.
Many of the problems with the WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP operating system require MS-Dos to troubleshoot or correct. Many of the programs provided by WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP to edit the operating system or troubleshoot it are DOS programs.
Should your Windows 3.1 or WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP operating system crash, you can continue doing business with a DOS program until you've fixed it. To boot up WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP in DOS, just press the F8 key when the screen says "loading WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP" and then select command prompt. You don't have to put your bookkeeping on hold if you're using an R*KOM DOS based program.
DOS programs are more efficient when it comes to storage. All 15 of our programs take up less than 4 MB total on your hard drive.
DOS programs being more reliable are less likely to lose your data. Data loss to a business can be disastrous.
The drawbacks to our DOS programs? They're not as pretty. They are strictly text programs that will help you run your business with minimum problems and in the least amount of time possible. Some inexpensive printers will not print from DOS programs (see printer problems). If you're in the market for a computer, pick your computer, monitor and printer seperately or you're most likely going to get a cheap monitor and a cheap printer in your computer package. While this may be o.k. for the occasional home user, we don't recommend this for a business that requires reliability and can't afford all the down time.
While DOS programs can use mouse support, we feel our system once learned makes our programs faster and easier to use. We use the numberical key pad as much as possible - this is much faster than a point and click mouse system. We provide on screen instructions for each menu choice or data input. Once they are learned, they become intuitive and much faster and more reliable than a mouse.
Lots of big businesses and smart small businesses do not rely on Windows programs to run their business. Check with insurance companies, medical complexes and big corporations to see if they run their businesses on strictly Windows programs. We use Windows for programs that require graphics and DOS where reliability is required.
A DOS program is just as easy to run from WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP as a windows program. In WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP, click on start, then programs and then MS-DOS prompt (command prompt in XP). WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP will let you create shortcuts (icons) to run the DOS programs. WINDOWS 95/98/ME/XP will even let you cut and paste text from a DOS program to a Windows program.
One question we get from a lot of our demo users is how do I get a full screen. Just click on the "full screen icon" - (4 direction arrows). A picture is worth a thousand words??? Alt/Enter (hold down the Alt key and press enter) will switch you back and forth between a full screen and a window.
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