Before Windows introduced its modern GUI system, Microsoft was well-known for its iconic command-line operating system, MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

In fact, focusing on those technologies might help explain the familiar cycle of Windows releases, where early versions are problematic and it takes at least two major updates before things settle ...

While Windows has moved away from using Microsoft Disk Operating System as a base, versions of DOS still persist. Some programs refuse to run in modern versions of Windows and require a DOS emulator.