FreeDOS 1.4 Ships After Three Years, Refreshing Core Tools
Released April 5, 2025, FreeDOS 1.4 updated FreeCOM, FDISK, and the mTCP networking suite, while deliberately keeping the same kernel as 1.3 until the next kernel version is fully tested.
FreeDOS 1.4 was released on April 5, 2025, a little over three years after FreeDOS 1.3 — the project’s most recent stable release as of this writing.
What actually changed
The release refreshed several core components: an updated FreeCOM shell, a new Install program and HTML-based help system, and meaningful fixes to widely-used utilities including FDISK (fixing serious existing bugs), FORMAT, 7-Zip, FASM, and JEMM. It also shipped a new version of Michael Brutman’s mTCP suite — the same networking stack covered elsewhere on this blog — giving DOS-era software an updated, more capable path to real TCP/IP networking.
What deliberately did not change
FreeDOS 1.4 ships with the same kernel version as 1.3 — a deliberate choice, not an oversight. A new kernel was in development but not considered sufficiently tested to include in a stable release; rather than rushing an under-tested kernel into a release meant to represent stability, the project shipped everything else that was ready and held the new kernel back for future testing and eventual release once it met that bar.
Why holding back the kernel specifically is a meaningful signal
An operating system’s kernel is the component with the least room for error — a kernel bug affects everything running on top of it, unlike a bug in a single utility. Choosing to ship meaningful improvements across the rest of the system while explicitly waiting on kernel-level changes reflects a conservative, deliberate risk assessment appropriate for software whose core value proposition is reliability and compatibility, not being first to ship the newest possible components.
Why this release matters for FreeDOS’s ongoing relevance
Nearly two decades after FreeDOS 1.0, continued releases like 1.4 — updating networking, partitioning, and shell tooling to remain genuinely useful rather than merely preserved — are what distinguish FreeDOS from a frozen historical artifact. It remains software people actively maintain and improve, not simply an unchanging replica of a 1990s environment.
Sources: We are excited to announce the release of FreeDOS 1.4 — FreeDOS Project, FreeDOS 1.4 Released — Hackaday, FreeDOS 1.4: Still DOS, still FOSS, more modern than ever — The Register