Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/MS-DOS 7


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Liz Read! Talk! 21:51, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

MS-DOS 7

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Microsoft never released an operating system called "MS-DOS 7" and cited sources are very weak (the Microsoft link fails to even mention "MS-DOS 7"), do not satisfy Wikipedia's criteria for reliable sources (the "ctyme" links have a very clear bias), and much of the article is simply original research. Chungy (talk) 21:03, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Computing and Software. Skynxnex (talk) 21:13, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep. A quick google book search finds multiple books and other reliable sources referring to the version of DOS in Windows 95 and 98 7.0/7.1:
 * Forensic Computing: A Practitioner's Guide
 * Using MS-DOS 6.22
 * Popular Science Aug 1993
 * Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows
 * A few more in archive.org:
 * The Windows 95 bug collection : fixes and work-arounds of nearly 1,000 pesky problems when running Windows 95
 * MS-DOS 6 explained
 * DOS World Volume 25
 * Windows 98 explained
 * So, clean up any original research as needed but my sense is there's reliable enough sources to document many of the things in the article as-is and it's definitely the common name for a real thing that subject-matter people see as a distinct thing. Skynxnex (talk) 21:38, 10 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep – MS-DOS 7 and later MS-DOS 7.1 are official components of Windows 95/98. Even if not released as a stand-alone operating system, they were fully supported by Microsoft. The user can create MS-DOS 7 or 7.1 boot disks (floppy disks) from within the Windows Explorer with just using built-in features (right click and format with bootable option). There is no need for any unofficial 3rd party extraction tools or similar. Theses floppy disks could then be used to boot into a normal MS-DOS 7 or 7.1 operating system environment. This was used primarily for trouble shooting, very similar to the Recovery Console or Windows PE environment in later NT-based versions of Windows. Ghettoblaster (talk) 21:49, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep - That it wasn't released as a standalone OS doesn't mean it's not a notable component of Windows (and a continuation of DOS). Those earlier versions of Windows were glorified graphical frontends for the underlying DOS in many ways, so it's not like it was an optional program. With some of the sources above in mind, the article's subject meets WP:NSOFT. - Aoidh (talk) 22:02, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Merge It's a "thing", but DOS 6.22 was the last stand-alone version sold at retail. This is a sub-unit of Windows programs, should be merged to "Windows 9x". Oaktree b (talk) 02:26, 11 January 2023 (UTC)
 * GNOME Shell is just a sub-unit of GNOME; there's no requirement of WP:NSOFT that software must run as a standalone to warrant an article. - Aoidh (talk) 02:38, 11 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep per Skynxnex and others. Notability established by reliable sources and even part of an OS can have its stand-alone article. Pavlor (talk) 11:30, 11 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep as it is notable sub-component of Windows-95. -- Mvqr (talk) 15:28, 11 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep - Thea article is well-cited in areas though not everywhere. It could use more sources. JRed176 (talk) 21:59, 11 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.