It’s called MS-DOS Mobile and Microsoft hopes the familiar black and white interface from DOS will help users be more productive on their phones. The operating system was built specifically for Lumia devices and it features the classic C:/> prompt and the ability to type a wide range of commands, and launch apps. Touch capability is also supported to make it even easier to get around MS-DOS.
Well… Not quite so, it’s all part of April Fool’s Day, but MS-DOS is a real app that Microsoft has released as preview to the Windows Phone Store and anyone can download for free. Similar to MS-DOS that ships with Windows, you can navigate around by using the good old DIR command to list apps and use CD to enter directories. Inside of MS-DOS Mobile you can use the following features:
COLOR: change the DOS appearance with customisable background and foreground colors CLS: Clears Screen DATE: Queries current date ECHO: Displays a custom message on the screen TIME: Queries current time TYPE: Prints out the contents of a file VER: Queries current DOS version
The following are phone-specific commands:
CAMERA.EXE: Opens the camera app INTERNET / IE [url]: launches web browser. URL can be set as a parameter EMAIL [address]: launches email client for you to type and send your message MAP [latitude] [longitude] / [search terms]: launches map app with location or search results MARKET: launches app marketplace PHONE [number]/SELECT: launches phone with number. Use SELECT to open card in contacts SEARCH/CORTANA [search terms]: Launches search/Cortana for the search terms
Microsoft also thought on including a few easter eggs with the MS-DOS app:
ASCII/CGA camera: launches a camera with CGA and ASCII modes WIN: Launches Windows 3.1 Rock Paper Scissors: Microsoft’s DOS version of this game can be launched by navigating to C:\GAMES\RPS\RPS.EXE. If you score more than 20 wins, have more wins than the AI and select the secret combination, a secret mode is unlocked in the game.
Did you spot the secret phrase in the video to unlock the secret mode?
Download MS-DOS
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