Microsoft Kicks it Old School For April Fools', With MS-DOS For Windows Phone

[Steven Bogos]

Microsoft Kicks it Old School For April Fools', With MS-DOS For Windows Phone

"MS-DOS for mobile" takes Windows Phone back to basics.

Well, as its now officially April 1 in America, the April Fools Day jokes from US-based companies have started to roll in. Leading the charge is Microsoft, who is kicking things old school with its "new" MS-DOS port for Windows Phones.

Just like the real MS-DOS, users will navigate around the fake mobile version by typing in DIR to list available apps and using the CD command to enter into directories. Most hilariously of all, the camera.exe opens up a super retro ASCII camera, which you can take totally dope 90's selfies with.

Probably the best part about this April Fools prank is that while it isn't quite the forced reboot the video claims it is, the MS-DOS app for Windows is a real thing that you can actually download! [https://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/ms-dos-mobile/8573c4a8-b9df-4409-90a6-dad2dc0b6b26] Props to Microsoft for actually making the thing.

As a clever little hidden bonus, be sure to type "Win" into the console to take things ever-so-slightly into the future with a port of the classic Windows 3.1.

Source: Microsoft [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irJQDGw8Ptk]

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[Scrythe]

When I saw the title, I was thinking of making a tongue in cheek post about DOSBox/aDOS on Android.

After reading the article, I'm amazed at how they went all out with this. The camera.exe function is amusingly brilliant.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

I'm actually learning Command Line in college so I might actually pick this up as a learning aid

 

[laggyteabag]

This seems to be Microsoft's motto in recent years.

 

[Naqel]

This seems to be Microsoft's motto in recent years.

My thoughts exactly.

It kinda makes one cringe at how lacking in self awareness they have to be to even make that kind of 'joke'.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

That;s actually kind of cool. These days I always think of Microsoft as being a gaming company with the Xbox.

 

[moosemaimer]

Tried firing up a game, it crashed and told me I needed to load the mouse driver.

As an original DOS user, I can confirm this app is totally accurate.

 

[Bindal]

Wait, is still an april's fool joke if the joke they're making is actually real? Isn't it then just... well, real?
I mean, it's not very practical and still a sort of joke app - but the app still exists.

So... questioning the April's Fool Joke part of this, applauding to them for actually doing it.

 

[jackpipsam]

I have a Windows Phone, so I need to try and download this.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Oh, that bring back painful memories when I was very little. Who in the right mind try to get a little kid to typed up their story on a DOS computer???

 

[alj]

the ironic thing is i would actually use it .

i use a terminal emulator on my android phone. Not because its the best interface for a phone ( pro tip its not) but sometimes when you cant be bothered working out how to do something via the UI its nice to be back to familiar *nix and copy files and move them around with commands you have been using for years.

i mean whats quicker

cp /users/alj/photop.jpg /mnt/usb

or messing around with a file manager via a touch interface for 15 mins to find the hidden dropdown to allow you to copy the file , and then finding where to access external storage and pasting the item there.

Don't get my wrong the touch interface on all phones MS, apple and droid works very well for 95% of the time but sometimes you need that power user interface.

dos is the same principle, back in the days when you head real dos under windows 3.11,95 and so on, sometimes it was faster to drop to dos do what you needed to do and boot windows back up.

 

[flying_whimsy]

ooh, what a neat thing. *downloads it* It even starts like an old school dos system. This'll be fun. *after some playing, types in "win"* Oh man I forgot what that old windows startup sound was like.

I'm not usually one for pranks, but I might load this onto one of my parent's phones when I visit them this weekend: that moment of panic when one of them goes to use the phone and gets the command line will be priceless.

 

[Angel Molina]

I think the real joke here is that Microsoft has their own line of phones... Okay, I'll take my leave now.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Tried firing up a game, it crashed and told me I needed to load the mouse driver.

As an original DOS user, I can confirm this app is totally accurate.

Ha ha! That is priceless! It is as true today as it was back then. Makes me wish I had a Windows phone.

 

[Alek The Great]

When I saw the title, I was thinking of making a tongue in cheek post about DOSBox/aDOS on Android.

After reading the article, I'm amazed at how they went all out with this. The camera.exe function is amusingly brilliant.

Internet.exe also gave me a lovely surprise. I had my phone speaker on full blast and all of a sudden dial-up tones came on and freaked the hell out of me. Ah, the good old days of yelling at people to get off the phone so you can send an email.

More on topic: I thought it was hilarious, but I kind of wish it was even more functional and not an April Fool's joke. I love the Windows Phone UI, but I would certainly not mind having a command line option.