If you want MS-DOS in ROM in your handheld device or embedded computer, Microsoft Corp is not quite the only game in town. Datalight Inc of Arlington, also in Washington state, is offering ROM-DOS 6, claiming it to be an MS-DOS 6.2 equivalent with greater MS-DOS compatibility than ROM-DOS 5 – it adds support for Windows 3.1 and has better local area network support. It also has Advanced Power Management for low-power systems with a BIOS that supports it. An XMS Memory Manager for handling extended memory has been added and there are multiple CONFIG.SYS options that can be exploited to cut memory overhead or load different device drivers for users on multipurpose terminals. Datalight has rights to market Stac Electronics Inc’s Stacker 3.0 compression system with ROM-DOS. The ROM-DOS Software Developer’s Kit is $500 and includes a certificate for 20 licences; additional ROM-DOS licences vary from $25 down to $2 depending on number bought, plus additional Stacker licence fees at $10, falling to $3 in high volume, if required. ROM-DOS 6 squeezes into a 45Kb kernel and and 27Kb command processor about half the size of MS-DOS 6 in ROM. While consumers may not be familiar with Datalight or the ROM-DOS brand, the company says – and it can say that again, they make use of it on a daily basis through public pay phones, credit card terminals, in-flight data collection equipment and medical equipment; it is also used in industrial controllers, bar code readers and custom terminals.
