8.8 Where can I get Emacs for MS-DOS?

To build Emacs from source for MS-DOS, see the instructions in the file msdos/INSTALL in the distribution. The DOS port builds and runs on plain DOS, and also on all versions of MS-Windows from version 3.X onwards, including Windows XP and Vista.

The file etc/PROBLEMS contains some additional information regarding Emacs under MS-DOS.

A pre-built binary distribution of the old Emacs 20 is available, as described at

ftp://ftp.delorie.com/pub/djgpp/current/v2gnu/emacs.README

For a list of other MS-DOS implementations of Emacs (and Emacs look-alikes), consult the list of “Emacs implementations and literature,” available at

http://www.finseth.com/emacs.html

Note that while many of these programs look similar to Emacs, they often lack certain features, such as the Emacs Lisp extension language.