Question: I am trying to use your Virtual Serial Ports with my DOS application which I run under Windows98 (ME). This doesn't seem to work. I am wondering why?
Answer: There is a difference in how different versions of Windows handle DOS programs. In 98 and ME, when you open the DOS Windows you are actually running an actual DOS session. It is essentially the same as running DOS without Windows at all (this is because in 98 and ME Windows runs on top of DOS). DOS software works with the COM ports of the PC directly so our Windows driver has no way of intercepting the serial traffic from your DOS application. And, therefore, we cannot offer any solutions that will network-enable a DOS application under 98 and ME.
The situation is different in 2000, NT, and XP. In these environments, “DOS” (or actually what looks like DOS) is running on top of Windows (not the other way around). DOS here is “emulated” and all hardware-related activities (like working with COMs) is intercepted by Windows. Therefore, our driver will work in this situation.
