DOS/4G
 | This article has multiple issues.Please helpimprove itor discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
 | |
 | |
| Developer(s) | Tenberry Software |
|---|---|
| Final release | 2.01
/ April 3, 1996[1] |
| Operating system | DOS |
| Platform | IA-32 |
| Type | DOS extender |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | web |
DOS/4Gis a32-bitDOS extenderdeveloped byRational Systems(laterTenberry Software).[2]It allowsDOSprograms to eliminate the 640KBconventional memorylimit by addressing up to 64[3]MBofextended memoryonIntel 80386and above machines.
Features
[edit]Functioning as a highly flexible and reusable memory extension library, DOS/4G allowed programmers to access extended memory without writing specialized code. It embeds itself in the executable file atlinkingtime and executes before main application code, so usually DOS/4G initialization messages show up at launch. It can in principle operate withinMS-DOS,PC DOS,DR-DOSand other DOS clones, the DOS boxes ofOS/2,Microsoft Windows,Windows NTandWindows 95,and DOS emulators such asDOSBox.However, in practice few DOS/4G games or other applications will run on non-DOS-based versions ofWindows,includingWindows NT,Windows 2000andWindows XP,since none of these allow direct access to the hardware as was used for display rendering in those days.
History
[edit]DOS/4GW1.95 was a free limited edition of DOS/4G and was included with theWatcom C compilerwith a commercial re-distribution license. It was made widely popular by computer games likeDoomorTomb Raider.
Initial versions of DOS/4G had trouble with secondaryDMA channelson theISA bus,which prevented 16-bit devices likeGravis Ultrasoundseries from normally functioning; Gravis even had to develop PREPGAME, a patch utility which updated the game executable with a new version 1.97 to fix the incompatibility.
In case of problems, DOS/4G or DOS/4GW can be replaced with the newer and freeDOS/32;a patch utility can even replace DOS/4G code embedded inside a compiled executable file.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"DOS/4G Release Notes".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-05-07.
- ^DOS4/GW Is it free? Can you distribute it?
- ^DOS4G FAQ
- ^TOOLS:DOS32A - DOSBoxWiki
External links
[edit] | This DOS software-related article is astub.You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |