Is there a way to run MS-DOS alongside/within Ubuntu?

Question

Is there a version of MS-DOS that I can add to Ubuntu? I have old MS-DOS games.

Answer 1

You can try either DOSBox or DOSEMU. Both are available from the repositories - use Ubuntu Software Center or synaptic (if installed) to get them. DOSBox is specifically intended to run games, but I've also used DOSEMU to run DOS games successfully.

Answer 2

You can run FreeDOS, a free software implementation of DOS inside a virtual machine such as VirtualBox or KVM/QEMU.

Answer 3

I would recommend taking a look at ScummVM if you have any point 'n' click adventure games.

From the ScummVM site:

ScummVM supports many adventure games, including LucasArts SCUMM games (such as Monkey Island 1-3, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, ...), many of Sierra's AGI and SCI games (such as King's Quest 1-6, Space Quest 1-5, ...), Discworld 1 and 2, Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2, Beneath A Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Broken Sword 1 and 2, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gobliiins 1-3, The Legend of Kyrandia 1-3, many of Humongous Entertainment's children's SCUMM games (including Freddi Fish and Putt Putt games) and many more.

Answer 4

emu2 is a simple text-mode DOS emulator that is lighter weight than DOSBox.

I do not know what versions of DOS are supported, including if anything specific to MS-DOS is supported.

Answer 5

I use VirtualBox to run old DOS apps. Personally, I would download the necessary .deb file directly from the VirtualBox site: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

I understand there is also a slightly older version in the Ubuntu store.