DOS Shell

DOS Shell is a file manager, debuted in MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS v4.0 (June 1988). It was discontinued in MS-DOS v6.0, but remained part of the "Supplemental Disk" until v6.22 (the last independent retail version of MS-DOS). It was, however, retained in PC DOS through PC DOS 2000.

DOS Shell was one of the first successful attempts to create a basic graphical user interface (GUI) type file manager in DOS, although it is properly referred to as a text user interface (TUI) or Character Oriented Windows (COW) even though graphical modes were available on supported hardware (VGA equipped PCs). It was additionally one of the first GUIs developed by Microsoft, and later inspired the design of Windows. The shell is very much like a DOS version of File Manager found in early versions of Windows, before the adoption of the taskbar and start menu.

Features

The shell includes common features seen in other file managers such as copying, moving and renaming files as well as the ability to "launch" applications with a double-click. The shell could be run by the command "DOSSHELL". It had the ability to set simple colours and styles.