Perhaps the most elaborate April Fools’ Day joke of them all, surely the most useful. Microsoft have released a version of MS-DOS for Lumia handsets, and it is now available for download.
For how long?
No idea. So if you want to grab the app and try it out on your phone then do so at the link below. Redmond may take it down any time.
Basically this alternate operating system lets you use your Lumia smartphone using command lines. This is a fully function version of MS-DOS in that it does actually work on phones. Well, it’s not actually an operating system, just an application that is masked as one.
But you can have fun typing various commands in order to perform specific tasks.
It does sport that familiar look of the classic MS-DOS, and basically only access apps and features that are already part of Windows Phone.
Typing “camera.exe” opens the camera allowing you to take photos in black and white, CGA or the good old ASCII mode. Likewise, typing “internet.exe” fires up Internet Explorer with that iconic modem connection sound.
There’s even a game that can be accessed by typing cd games > cd rps > rps.exe in that order.
The app only works on Windows Phone 8.1 devices, so those running the preview version of Windows 10 for Phones or Windows Phone 7 are out of luck.
Still you can check out MS-DOS Mobile on the Windows Phone Store here.
