FreeDOS 1.3 is it worth it for Retro DOS PC Gaming

FreeDOS 1.3 just launched and we will check out if the project has made improvements with DOS Game compatibility. If you remember the video review about FreeDOS 1.2 we encountered many games that wouldn't work. We will also run some benchmarks and compare performance against MS-DOS 6.22.

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[redavatar]

I have an archive of over 800 DOS games that I test on every new PC I build. It's a LOT of work but it gives you a very clear picture of how some hardware causes certain issues on a specific OS I've got a small notebook full of notes and every tested game gets written down and if something is wrong, it gets added. If I run into a problem I compare it to the issues I had with other games on the same issues, or similar issues on other systems and sometimes that's enough to make me realize what may be the cause.

This made it very clear that every PC has its quirks - it's possible that games that won't run in FreeDOS on one PC, will work on another PC. I mean, I've had games fail to run on MS DOS 6.22 on my Pentium II 333 but run fine on MS DOS 7.10 but the same games run fine on MS DOS 6.22 on a different PC ... .

Currently I'm testing out a Pentium II 333. The main issue there by far is memory. Many games run well under Windows 98 but fail to run under DOS 7.10 and need all sorts of XMSDISK or other tools to reduce the amount of memory a game will detect.

[boot-nrjn]

FreeDOS 1.3 looks good, the future is looking bright for this project. Quality video as always! You inspire me a lot and one of the reasons I'm in this amazing hobby.

[Eyetrauma]

Was really happy to see this appear as a premiere. Glad to hear FreeDOS has been making great strides, I relied on it pretty heavily to help get a Frankenstein(‘s monster) Win98 Core 2 system configured, now I’m on the lookout for a ‘proper’ vintage system.

[osgrov]

This is really impressive considering how many problems 1.2 had. I remember spending way too much time fighting CD-ROM problems and gave up on it quite quickly. Can't wait to try this new version out!
Great video, thanks Phil. <3

[nathandx]

Glad to see FreeDOS is improving! I tried messing with it last year and couldn't accomplish much of anything...

[AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

It's not only a good video about freedos 1.3 but also a good recommendation video for dos games.

[SenileOtaku]

Now if only ReactOS could be advancing this fast. Granted, there's a whole lot bigger API set that ReactOS has to replicate.

[rodhester]

Always great to see a new Video from the channel. thank you.

[youzernejm]

Yay Phil's back! Happy to see your video again. So, it's the right time to stock up on 8GB sd cards while they're still around. I'm honestly quite impressed by the 1.3 (wow, has it really been that long since your 1.2 video)

[alexandrecouture]

Great video! One issue that I had in the past with FreeDos is that it is not compatible with Ontrack DDO.
I even made a bug report on their website and they said: We don't care.
This is an important issue, because on older machines, such as a 286 or 386, their bios support only very small drives (less than 100mb) and when you want to use a 1gb or 2gb sd-to-ide adapter, you pretty much have to use Ontrack Dynamic Drive Overlay. Then, on MS-DOS, you can use the full capacity. This does not work with FreeDos. So what do you do? Stick with MS-Dos even if you wanted FreeDos.

[georgez]

Thanks for the Video and all the Testing Phil. looks like a big improvement

[terraplanericvs]

Hello! First I am very thankful for your very good english pronunciation, and then for the good video and the contents you so clearly explain. Greetings from Argentina!

[blakedmcRaveHD]

so glad u came by with another retro build vid! all tha news about GPU shortages n stuff can really be stressful but bringin' back some good o retro gaming couldn't have came at a better time

currently i'm waitin' on a GTX 780Ti to get really dirt cheap so i can grab it for a Windows XP Retro Gaming Project pairing with a old system with a FX 8350 i retired for modern uses and yes it will be a offline PC for tha most part

[Neksus-M]

"windows popup like a christmas tree" :) :) :)
Awesome!

This review comes out at the right time.
Thanks man!!

[zaxchannel]

I'm happy it's progressing well

[mr.todorokix-x]

So Great Video.It has become easier to handle due to the capacity improvement and improved files that were problematic in MS-DOS. thank you.

[O.Shawabkeh]

Such a great collection of games tested here

[baroncalamityplus]

Thanks for the video! I was really curious about this.

[escdos]

This is great news, really appreciate your work.

[vitmich]

Yep, it's Good for retro gaming. I have tested worms, duke, blackthorne and others. Any game was working well.