Here are some updates to my out-of-date DOS page which probably got you here.
I recently found a nice DOS page entitled "DOS, Not a Dead Utility After All" while tracking down a problem using older DOS commands on Xp.
I still use Windows 98SE on my desktop and still do my checkbooks in Quicken and MYM versions from about 1992 in DOS, as well as many other things. For backups I go to DOS and run Image for DOS just as I use a homemade DOS boot CD to run the same program on my Win XP laptop which has no floppy drive. I also recommed Terabyte's Image for Windows to use as well as well as BootitNG, both of which I've used for longer than I can recall.
Here are a two links that never made it to my out-of-date DOS page. First, the 1988 Tiny Editor TED.COM by Tom Kihlken. Before the days of an EDIT command in DOS 5.0, when EDLIN had to be used, this 2.91 kbyte freeware program was the best tool to have around. You may want it with DOSBox, which has no EDIT, so here is a copy of TED.COM and its documentation in TED.ZIP. The second is FREEDOS. You can obtain it either as an ISO image to burn on a CD or an IMG image to put on a floppy. Either can be used to install it on a partition on your hard drive -- or you can simply borrow those DOS utilities you want to use that aren't included with DOSBox, such as the EDIT program.
Printing from DOS programs on newer computers
On newer computers there are no LPT ports, which DOS wants to print to from most DOS programs. Sometimes you can make do with the NET USE command, if you have a printer on your computer or network that doesn't garble the printout from your DOS programs. If you aren't in a network, create one with your one computer and make sure to share it's printer, giving it a short name with no spaces. On my XP laptop the laptop name is YUCK (My opinion of Xp) and the printer is 990CSE -- it's really a networked printer not on any computer.
From a command line (DOS) window, I can type NET VIEW \\YUCK to see all shareable devices on YUCK, one is the printer 990CSE. Then before trying to print from a DOS program I type
NET USE LPT1: \\YUCK\990CSE
and the DOS print commands will send printouts to that printer. It prints reluctantly, then always flashes an error message for which I have to push a button to clear, because it is not a standard DOS type printer. However, if I use
NET USE LPT1: \\GOD\IIIP
instead for the printer name, it goes to another computer with a 1992 computer attached which prints just fine. Experiment and you may be lucky. Otherwise you may have to learn to live without printing directly from DOS printers.
Off topic -- even if you don't use the NET USE command for this, if you are handling a network, learn the command's uses. Best way to connect or reconnect shares on a network, and it can be with simple batch (.BAT) files, even on Xp.
Using Windows XP
With my XP laptop there is no true DOS, but it's emulator, the COMMAND prompt, takes care of many of the old DOS programs. With only long filenames, it is difficult to move through the directory structure, but you can open a command prompt window at any folder from the explorer with a change to the registry. If you own a copy of Windows Xp Annoyances, there is a short section entitled "Open a Command Prompt window in any folder". In the first edition this is in Appendix C, page 529, in the second addition it is in Chapter 10, page 545. A simpler way is to download the tiny Terabyte freeware Drop to Dos program. I haven't bothered with testing any other DOS emulators under XP, since I can still run my most needed DOS programs.
Whenever you put an old DOS program onto an XP directory, do not use the PIF files that may have been in the installation -- they are shortcuts for an earlier version of Windows! If you don't delete them you might be tempted to click on them from My Computer or Windows Explorer because they look like normal shortcuts. Results may be quite bizarre. Either run the program from a "DOS" window, or create your own shortcuts the old fashioned way, copy the program and use the right mouse button menu to paste a shortcut.
Using Mac OSX 10.3.x
If you are going to run any DOS emulator you must modify the default Exposé keys which take over F9, F10, and F11.
If you want to retain those keys for your own purpose, I suggest you go to System Preferences, Exposé and replace the defaults. I ended up using Ctrl+F9, Ctrl+F10, and Ctrl+F11 to leave them free.
For now I'd like to address some ways to use DOS on your Mac running OSX 10.3.x, Panther. If you purchased Virtual PC before Microsoft purchased it and dumped the DOS version or you purchased RealPC before the product was dropped at about the same time Microsoft got into the fray, you don't need any of this. Even though RealPC runs only in Classic, it does just fine with my old DOS programs. It won't do CDs, there is no floppy, and because of those limits I've started testing the open source DOSBox on my 12" powerbook.
DOSBox runs on many operating systems, so one first must download a version compiled for OSX. It appears that most of the instructions for it were written for other operating systems, so click here for a beginner's guide to using DOSBox on the Mac quickly, written by a beginner.