FreeDOS is a complete, free, DOS-compatible operating system that you can use to play classic DOS games, run legacy business software, or develop embedded systems. Any program that works on MS-DOS should also run on FreeDOS. 

Is FreeDOS really free?
Yes, FreeDOS is really free. It doesn’t cost anything to download and use FreeDOS. You can also share FreeDOS for others to enjoy! And you can view and edit our source code, because all FreeDOS programs are distributed under the GNU General Public License or a similar Open source software license.

What programs can I run in FreeDOS?
FreeDOS is a complete, free, DOS-compatible operating system. While we provide some utilities, you should be able to run any program intended for MS-DOS. Pretty much any program that works on MS-DOS will work on FreeDOS. You can also use FreeDOS on a network! However, you may experience problems running Windows on FreeDOS. For example, Windows standard-mode works on FreeDOS, but ‘386-mode Windows for Workgroups 3.11 does not.

We find most people use FreeDOS to do these things:
1. Play classic DOS games. You can play your favorite DOS games on FreeDOS. And there are a lot of great classic games to play: Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Commander Keen, Rise of the Triad, Jill of the Jungle, Duke Nukem, and many others!

2. Run legacy software. Need to recover data from an old business program? Or maybe you need to run a report from your old finance system? Just install your legacy software under FreeDOS, and you’ll be good to go!

3. Develop embedded systems. Many embedded systems run on DOS, although modern systems may instead run on Linux. If you support an older embedded system, you might be running DOS. And FreeDOS can fit in very well.

What do I need to run FreeDOS?
FreeDOS should run on any standard PC, although for better performance you may want an Intel ‘386 or better processor, 2MB or more memory, and 40MB disk space. If you are new to DOS, we recommend you use a PC emulator such as VirtualBox to install and boot FreeDOS. You can find PC emulators for all computer platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac.) You can even run FreeDOS using a PC emulator written in Java, right in your web browser!

How can I contribute to FreeDOS?
We welcome all users to FreeDOS! You can contribute to the FreeDOS Project by downloading our latest release and telling us what you think. If you find a problem, please report a bug to help us improve FreeDOS. By participating in the development and debugging process, you help everyone. If you are fluent in a non-english language, please consider translating FreeDOS. If you are a developer, please review the pending bug reports and feature requests. You might also want consulting the FreeDOS wishlist for further inspirations. Also, consider joining the email lists.

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