Development History
The DOS extender was arguably invented by Phar Lap, but it was Tenberry Software, Inc.'s (formerly Rational Systems) 386 extender DOS/4GW that brought protected mode DOS programs to the masses. Included with Watcom's C, C++ and Fortran compilers for 386 class processors, it soon became a ubiquitous mainstay of PC applications and games such as id Software's successful DOOM.
While initially it was the memory hungry business applications that drove the development of DOS extenders, it would be PC games that truly brought them into the spotlight. As a result of the development of DOS extenders, two new software interfaces were created to take care of the many potential conflicts that could arise from the varied methods of memory management that already existed, as well as provide a uniform interface for client programs.
The first of these interfaces was the Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI), but this was rapidly overshadowed by the DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) specification, which grew from the Windows 3.0 development. They provided an API through which an extended program could interface with real mode software, allocate memory, and handle interrupt services. They also provided an easy method for the extender to set up the switch to protected mode, and allowed multiple protected mode programs to coexist peacefully.
Read more about this topic: DOS Extender
Famous quotes containing the words development and/or history:
“Ultimately, it is the receiving of the child and hearing what he or she has to say that develops the child’s mind and personhood.... Parents who enter into a dialogue with their children, who draw out and respect their opinions, are more likely to have children whose intellectual and ethical development proceeds rapidly and surely.”
—Mary Field Belenky (20th century)
“All history becomes subjective; in other words there is properly no history, only biography.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)