I just want to show you a great add-on for DOS, called DESKWORK. It's an operating system build upon DOS, just like older Windows versions were build upon DOS. It has been written by Konstantin Koll for several years now, who founded a small company called Mystic Bytes to produce DESKWORK.Nice technical features DESKWORK uses its own filesystem which uses meta information. The filesystem itself doesn't use any directories or folders. Instead it shows always topic related data. That's a very cool way to work with your computer.
DESKWORK uses an intuitive interface like no one before. You can handle it with a few keys on your keyboard or with your mouse. Instead of a window based GUI, DESKWORK uses a list based GUI with written commands. You won't find many icons that no newbie would understand. All you get is just clear and understandable information, listed in a tree structure. Please have a look at for some screenshots to get the idea.
Usage
Beyond its technical aspects, DESKWORK can play audio
and MP3 files/CDs, allows some basic support for
playing videos (improvements are already on the way),
play some small games, lets you write textes, renders
3D graphics in real-time and so on. You can access
files from DOS filesystems and FAT32 by attaching
files to DESKWORK. You can access another DESKWORK PC
and some other devices. The things DESKWORK can do,
are highly integrated and of high quality. What it
can't do is networking for now. Konstantin Koll is
seeking for developers who can assist writing a TCP/IP
stack and - even more important - drivers for networking devices.
Compatibility
Well, DESKWORK is a DOS Based operating system. You
need MS-DOS or a compatible DOS like the new DR-DOS (which can
handle FAT32 and is recommended - see http://www.drdosprojects.de/ ). As
an alternative, it can be installed on any DOS based Windows like 95
or 98. Beyond that, it runs on any i386 compatible PC.
Yes, it can power up even an old 386sx machine.
It supports a few printers and can print in raw text
mode on an unknown printer. There are
drivers to access a digital camera and the Rio MP3 Player.
Also some goodies for SONY VAIO notebooks are
integrated, like using a Jogdial or Memorysticks.
Pricing & Availability
At the moment DESKWORK is only available in German
language, but there are even users who can't understand
German using it. Deskwork can be tested fully
functional for free. If you want to use it
permanently, you should make a donation - the product
is donation ware. You can download the current version
from http://www.deskwork.de
Installation
Most of the product is self-explaining so you can give
it a quick look. Installation is simple. Download all
of the DESKWORK files. Create a new folder on a DOS
(FAT) partition and put all the files in that folder.
Start with your DOS (or quit to DOS from Win9x),
navigate to your DESKWORK folder and type "SETUP".
After the installation you'll find a folder named "DW"
on your Harddisk. Go to that Folder and type in "DW"
to start DESKWORK. It's a good idea to look in the
supported hardware list before you install.
Closing Comments
DESKWORK lacks of networking support and some more
advanced applications. On the other hand, DESKWORK
features a new way of accessing data, keeping the use
of the data in mind. The truely easy to use interface
makes it a unique piece of software. Everyone who is
interested in alternative computing should take a
closer look.
More Informartion
You should check out here for
additional information (German only). There you will
find the current version of DESKWORK for free
download, too. You can use Babelfish for a simple
translation.
If you would like to see your thoughts or experiences with technology published, please consider writing an article for OSNews.
