Today, MS-DOS is rarely used for desktop computing. Since the release of
Windows 95, it was integrated as a full product used for
bootstrapping and troubleshooting, and no longer released as a standalone product.
Windows XP contains a copy of the core MS-DOS 8 files from
Windows Me,
accessible only by formatting a floppy as an "MS-DOS startup disk". These core files are a stripped down bootstrap only, which does not include CD-ROM support. With
Windows Vista the files on the startup disk are dated 18 April 2005 but are otherwise unchanged, including the string "MS-DOS Version 8 (C) Copyright 1981-1999 Microsoft Corp" inside
COMMAND.COM.
However the only versions of DOS currently recognized as stand-alone OSs, and supported as such by the Microsoft Corporation are DOS 6.0 and 6.22, both of which remain available for download via their
MSDN, volume license, and OEM license partner websites, for customers with valid login credentials.
Today, DOS is still used in embedded x86 systems due to its simple architecture, and minimal memory and processor requirements. The
command line interpreter of
NT-based versions of Windows,
cmd.exe, maintains most of the same commands and some compatibility with DOS batch files.
Microsoft has introduced a new command-line called
PowerShell. Powershell offers more functionality than MS-DOS.
