This little article can also be found in the latest issue of MODEMNEWS (#24) or on some BB

This little article can also be found in the latest issue of MODEMNEWS
(#24) or on some BBSs as DOS5NEWS.ZIP. It is *NOT* I who has written
this, I just copied it!

                   What will be new with DOS 5.00? 
 
     Well, DOS 5.00 will probably be out by the end of 1990, and
you are probably anxious to know what is new.  Most people either
don't know what is new, or "can't tell you".  I'll tell you all I
know (and whatever I can make up).  Maybe I shouldn't be telling
anyone , but no one knows who I am so it doesn't matter. 
 
                                     Anonymous User 
 
Changes/Additions: 
 
1.  DOS can now load itself into the  first 64K of Extended
    memory if you have it.  You must have the line, "DOS=HIGH" in
    your config.sys and you must have at least 64K of extended memory
    available.  This will only work on AT machines since 8088/8086
    processors can  only address up to 1 Megabyte of memory, and
    Extended Memory begins at 1  Meg.  Loading DOS high will free up
    quite a bit of valuable conventional memory.
 
2.  The QuickBasic interpreter is included along with GWBasic. 
 
3.  The Shell program (DOSSHELL) has been completely changed.  It
    now resembles the "File Manager" Program that comes with Windows
    or OS/2.  DOSSHELL can be run in either graphics or text mode,
    in color or black and white.  The  F1 key brings up online help.
 
4.  If the environment variable "TEMP" is set, DOS will use the
    directory set in "TEMP" to write temporary files for piping
    operations.  If there is no "TEMP" directory set, the current
    directory is used.
 
5.  If the environment variable "DIRCMD" is set, DOS uses it for 
    all "DIR" commands.  For example, if "DIRCMD=/W", when you type
    "DIR", DOS would act like you typed "DIR/W" (Wide display).
 
6.  A short help screen is availa ble for all DOS commands by
    adding a "/?" after the command, for example, "D IR /?" would
    give you a help screen for the DIR command.
 
7.  There is a utility called "DOSKEY" that is basically a
    command line editor that lets you backup through your previous
    DOS commands.  Here is the help screen for DOSKEY:
 
DOSKEY [/reinstall] [/bufsize=] [/dmacs] [/dhist] [macro=text] 

        /reinstall  Installs a new copy of doskey. 
        /bufsize=   Specifies the size of  the command buffer. 
        /dmacs      Displays all macros and lets you redirect
                    them to a file. 
        /dhist      Displays all command lines stored in memory .

 
8.  A program called UNFORMAT is included.  It restores a hard
    drive to i ts condition prior to the last FORMAT command.
 
9.  The DIR command now reports  how many bytes the files listed 
    total up to.  Here is an example DIR command :
 
       E:\>dir 
 
        Volume in drive E is whatever 
        Directory of E: \ 
 
       WIERDOS       
     06-28-90  12:42a 
       DUDE     ZIP    724409  07-26-90  10:14p 
       TMP                07-28-90   6:32p 
       IHATE-U            06-28-90  12:42a 
       MASM     EXE    103175  07-31-87  12:00a 
       STSCFG   CFG      2339  04-30-90   1:49a 
       SD       INI      2497  07-13-90   2:52a 
       FRECOVER DAT     50688  07-14-90   1:25a 
               8 File(s)    3883108 bytes 
                           21868544 bytes free 
 
       E: \> 
 
10.  The FORMAT command now supports 2.88 Meg 3.5" diskettes. 
 
 
Here are the  help screens for a few of the DOS commands: 
 
 
DIR [pathname] [/p] [/w] [/a:attributes] [/o:sortorder] [/s] [/b] 

   /p  Pause after each screen page of display . 
   /w  List Files in columns with up to five filenames on each    
       line. 
   /a:attributes  Displays only files with the attributes you     
                  specify. 
   /o:sortorder   Displays files sorted in the specified order. 
   /s  Displays files in the s pecified directory and all         
       subdirectories. 
   /b  Lists filenames, one per line , without any file           
       information. 
 
 
FORMAT drive: [/1] [/4] [/8] [/n:sectors] [/t:tracks] [/f:size] 
              [/ b] [/s] [/u] [/v[:label]] 

   /1  Formats a single side of a floppy disk. 
   /4  Forces a high-capacity floppy drive to format a 360K
       Floppy-disk. 
   /8  Formats eight sectors per track.
   /n  Specifies the number of sectors per track. 
   /t  Specifies the number of tracks on the disk. 
   /f  Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format.
   /b  Formats the disk, leaving space to copy an  operating      
       system. 
   /s  Copies the operating system files. 
   /u  Specifies an unconditional format for a hard disk.
   /v  Specifies the volume label. 
 
 
COPY [pathname1] [pathname2] [/v] [/a] [/b] 

   /v Verifies sectors written on the  target disk. 
   /a Copies Ascii files. 
   /b Copies binary files. 
  
BACKUP source destination [/s] [/m] [/a] [/f:size] [/d:date]      
       [/t:time] [/L:pathname]

   /s Backs up subdirectories 
   /m Backs up only those files that have changed since the last  
      backup 
   /a Adds backed-up files to an existing backup disk 
   /d:date     Backs up only files modified since the specified date
   /t:time     Backs up only files modified since the specified time
   /L:pathname Creates a log entry to record the backup
               operation
   /f:size     Formats the target backup disk
 
 
RESTORE drive1: [drive2] [pathname] [/s] [/p] [/b:date] 
        [/a:date] [/e :time] [/l:time] [/m] [/n] 

   /s  Restores all subdirectories. 
   /p  Prompts  before restoring read-only files or filed         
       modified since the backup. 
   /b  Restores only those files last modified on or before date. 
   /a  Restores  only those files last modified on or after date. 
   /e  Restores only those files last modified
   /n  Restores only those files that no longer exist on the
       target disk 
 
 
MODE - Configure a device. 
 
Device Status:     MODE [device] [/sta] 
Printer port:      MODE LPTn[cols=c] [lines=l] [retry=r]
Serial port:       MODE COMm baud=b [data=d] [stop=s] [parity=p]
                        [retry=r] 
Display mode:      MODE con:[cols=m] [lines=n] 
Typematic rate:    MODE con [:] [rate=r] [delay=d] 
Prepare codepage:  MODE device cp prepare=((yyy)                  
                        [drive:][path]filename 
Select codepage:   MODE device cp select=yyy 
Redirect printing: MODE LPTn[:]=COMm[:]
 
 
XCOPY pathname1 [pathname2] [/a] [/d:date] [/e] [ /m] [/p] [/s]   
      [/v] [/w] 
   /a  Copy files with archive bit, but don't modify archive bit. 
   /d  Copies source files modified on or after specified date. 
   /e  Copies any subdirectories, even if they are empty. 
   /m  Copy files with archive bit set and clear the archive bit. 
   /p  Prompts before creating a new  file in the target          
       directory. 
   /s  Copy directories and subdirectories, unless empty.
   /v  Verify each file as it is written to the target. 
   /w  Causes  xcopy to wait before it starts copying files. 
  
 
     There is also a neat little program included with the beta 
version of DOS  5.0 called "Microsoft Infer".  I don't know if
Infer will be included with the release version of DOS.  Infer
tells lots of useful information about your system , like:
Operating System Version, Machine type, Environment, Processor
type, Memory info, Video Adapter info, Serial/Parallel port
info, disk drive info, and much more.  Infer includes a ROM BIOS
browser, memory browser, and several other useful functions.