Main Page

Welcome to BetaWiki!

An open encyclopedia of software history

Did you know...

  • ...that versions of Microsoft Windows for DEC Alpha and ARMv7 platforms continued to be maintained internally even after official end of support, as the systems proved valuable for specific projects?
  • ...that the IA-64 compile of Windows Server 2003 build 2462 includes login banners for a Personal edition of Windows 2000?
  • ...that Windows Longhorn build 4015 (main) includes an early iteration of transparent window borders?
  • ...that Apple has officially released several developer releases of what would later become Mac OS X for the x86 architecture as a part of its NeXT legacy, and secretly continued to maintain the port until Tiger?
  • ...that the Neptune project was a cancelled version of Windows that ought to bring a new user interface reminiscent of the Metro elements later introduced in Windows 8?
  • ...that terrorism caused a major sudden change to Windows XP's advertising campaign?

Featured article

MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) is a monolithic singletasking operating system developed by Microsoft between 1980 and 2000 for x86-based personal computers. It was the de facto industry standard environment on the IBM PC and its clones, although it also shipped with other x86-based computers that were incompatible with IBM.

By default, MS-DOS is driven by a command line interface – the A> or C:\> prompt shown when the command processor is ready to accept input ultimately became one of the unofficial symbols of DOS. Several software vendors have developed programs that add a more friendly user interface to manage files and launch other programs. Microsoft itself included such a program, the MS-DOS Shell, with some versions of MS-DOS.

News

Latest released builds

iOS 17.5

macOS Sonoma 14.5

Windows 11 Beta (2023 Update Moment 5)

Windows 11 Dev (2024 Update)

Windows 11 Canary (Germanium)

Windows Server 2025

MS-DOS

Recently shared builds

Multitasking MS-DOS

Windows 95

Windows 7

Windows Phone 8.1