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^CBy Daniel Tobias

   Disk space is tight this month, what with all the programs we've got here.
So, I'll skip the preliminaries and get right to my monthly opinionated ravings.

   One of my pet peeves is when people use the word "DOS" as if it refers only
to the IBM PC or compatible operating system, MS-DOS or PC-DOS.  It's not; many
other machines, including the Apple II, the Amiga, and an old IBM mainframe,
have operating systems named "DOS" that are not in any way compatible with
MS-DOS; the acronym DOS simply means "Disk Operating System".

   Now, I'm not criticizing use of the word in machine-specific forums like BIG 
BLUE DISK.  Here, if I say "This is a tutorial on how to use DOS," it's 
understood that I mean MS-DOS; if I wrote the same thing on companion diskmag 
SOFTDISK for the Apple II, it would be understood to mean Apple's DOS.  However, 
these days it is becoming fashionable in supposedly non-machine-specific 
publications (like InfoWorld and Personal Computing), as well as in conver-
sations among computerphiles, to use "DOS" as a synonym for MS-DOS in the 
context of comparing different systems.  E.g.: "Where UNIX uses a forward slash, 
DOS uses a backward one"; "Unlike Macintosh applications, DOS-based software 
lacks a consistent user interface"; "After 20 years of working in COBOL on 
mainframes, I've finally moved into the DOS environment."  One mail-order 
catalog I just recieved heads their list of IBM PC programs "DOS Software."

   Such usages arrogantly imply that Microsoft's DOS is the only DOS worthy of 
the name.  This is unfair to the numerous adherents of other disk operating 
systems such as Apple ProDOS and AmigaDOS.  MS/PC-DOS may be the most popular 
system around (hey, it's what you and I are using), but it's not the only DOS 
that exists; Apple II fans were using "DOS 3.3" long before Microsoft got up to 
it!  Believe it or not, software is still being released for non-IBM-compatible 
machines, and many find that their own machine, whether it be a Commodore 64 or 
an Altair 8800, suits their needs just fine.  Don't disparage people for their 
choice of computer any more than for their choice of car. 

   Before I close, one quick tip:  Check out the "What's New" column in the 
"Last Things Last" section.  It describes some useful new products we are now 
offering.  If you'd like a supply of preformatted disks, we've got them; if you 
need a machine to copy your own disks, we've got that too.  Read "What's New" 
regularly; we're always coming up with new things to help you make more 
productive use of your PC.

   OK, let's get on with the issue; disk space is a'wastin'.