The article reflects on the author's nostalgic attachment to MS-DOS and its pivotal role in learning foundational computing skills on early PCs. Despite its outdated status, the knowledge gained from using DOS proved invaluable throughout the author's life, particularly during the transition to Windows systems. The fascination with computer underpinnings fostered a curiosity that led to a career in IT and technology writing. While the author acknowledges Microsoft's flawed practices, there's a bittersweet gratitude for the learning experiences provided by that initial computing adventure.
That book taught me how to do all the stuff I couldn't figure out on this horrible old PC-searching through files and folders, writing snarky journal entries in the Edit app, copying and formatting disks (and, crucially, checking them for errors so I could weed out the bad ones), writing batch files, and creating additional system disks so we could have backups. I had the free time and the elastic, absorbent brain that only a kid can have, and I quickly soaked it all up.
Microsoft is far from a perfect company. Strong-arm tactics and anticompetitive practices defined the MS-DOS and Windows eras, and I have all kinds of misgivings about the company's push into generative AI and the current state of Windows 11. But I owe a lot to that first computer and the software that it unhappily, begrudgingly ran.
Collection
[
|
...
]