DOS programmes in the modern work place?

Question

The manufacturing comapny I work for has been using a windows based estimating programme which is then used for actual job sheets. Having recently been bought by another company, we are about to swop over to their DOS programme. I cannot help but feel that this is a step backwards; any thoughts?

Answer 1

lol I agree.

but in the bigger business sense, it might be more features, or more votes for the new guys, or easier to implement the dos for you then the windows app for them or they don't want to or can't get additional windows app licenses, etc

Answer 2

Question:  Are you sure it's a DOS program, and not a text-based Windows program?  (They're not the same thing.)

Many people assume that, because it runs in a window that looks like MS-DOS used to look, it's a "DOS program".  The reality is that there is such a thing as a "Windows console application".  The command prompt ("cmd.exe") is one of these.  While it "looks" like DOS, it's not.  Many of the programs you can run from there, such as ftp and telnet, are not DOS programs, but full-fledged Windows console applications.   (The only real difference is that they run in text-based window, rather than a GUI window, though they could do both.)  In fact, nearly all of the executables that come with Windows nowadays are Windows console applications.

That said, if the program is a Windows console application, then it has some advantages for scenarios where speed is more important than "pretty pictures", such as data entry.

Answer 3

The only real test is "Does the old version being sundowned have any functionality that the DOS version cannot do?" If the answer is "No", it's not a step backward, it's merely a different way of doing things, which is not inherently good or bad. If the DOS version cannot do something your old version did (or can only do so with awkward workarounds), that would seem to be an argument against their version (depending on how important that missing functionality is likely to be).

Answer 4

Listen 2 Calvin L!!!

Answer 5

DOS in the modern workplace is an Oxymoron!

you cannot be modern and use DOS.

There are many SQL applications under many Operating systems that are more secure and easier to use such as Mac, Linux, Windows, Sparq, VMS and others.

Although DOS may be stable and run on slow machines it lacks the multi users security, network and backup features of more modern OS. IT may be a good choice if you use antique hardware that the 3rd world would return as outdated but for a modern distributed business environment. DOS can only access slow networks using the outdated and insecure Novell software which is now unsupported by the vendor and many hardware suppliers.

what's wrong with the new company adopting your estimating porgram as a take over is supposed to take the best from each and produce a more powerful company not a weaker slower one.

Whoever the new IT manager is should be run over by a steam roller repeatedly as punishment for inflicting this on you - I last used DOS in 1989 when networks were 'invented' by business

Answer 6

its just software. as lonjg as its stable, reliable and does what its supposed to do, does it really matter what os it runs on?

the only issue that comes to my mind is of training and whether its as easy to use relaibly for staff as an equivalent. As long as they can use it and get results with it reliably then I cant see any issue.

nothing wrong with dos. Sometimes simpler is better.

Answer 7

Not really, DOS is a very stable work enviorment, it doesnt carry any overheads like GUI so it simply runs, if wriiten well, it can run for years, plus it can also access the hardware directly, hence many companies still uses it.

I wrote a DOS database for a large manufacture around 15 years ago to run all the label printing machines, they produce around 10 to 20 million labels a week, this runs on CUI based Novell and over this long period, it has not failed once.

Cant say the same about Windows