OpenGEM - v5, v6
Graphical User Interface for MS-DOS
This is Open GEM (versions 5 and 6) DOS GUI.
GEM, the coulda-woulda-shoulda that neva - or how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
I used GEM in the late 1980's at the bank I was with and thought it was pretty slick compared to the straight DOS and mainframe environment I'd come from.
The bank used IBM PCs as a front end to their mainframe systems and had a proprietary DOS menu system on the PCs with GEM as the PC's File Management option and it performed that function quite well.
It didn't age well though and DR didn't seem to put in much work with extending it's development.
Interesting to look back on something that seemed to have a lot going for it 30+ years ago but simply faded away.
I've uploaded 2 versions here - Open GEM v5 (credit Shane Coughlan) and v6 (credit Open Dawn) - both versions credit Lineo and DR GEM v3.2.3 (which I think was the last DR GEM retail release) so I'm assuming v3.2.3 was the basis for both.
Version 5 has more applications than version 6 so that's the one I suggest you use for testing.
Version 5 also has a rudimentary web browser, as well as spreadsheet, doc editor, paint program, etc.
However it's still more of a File Manager application and I didn't see any way to create program shortcuts, either on the Desktop or Menu, and that makes for limited usability in running DOS programs.
Sure, you can run DOS programs from GEM's file manager, but if all you want is a file manager there are much better DOS file managers than GEM available.
GEM is an OK file manager, but as a desktop GUI it's pretty limited in features.
The GUI will load on startup.
As well as the VHD I've also uploaded two ISO files with the install files for each version.
If you want to install for yourself, DOS has to be installed first and the CD contents extracted to a directory on C: before the install.bat is run.
The VHD was created using VirtualBox 6.1.26.
< Click here to download the v5 VHD > < Click here to download the v5 install files as an ISO >
< Click here to download the v6 VHD > < Click here to download the v6 install files as an ISO >
Screenshots: (Use your browser's right click function "Open Image In New Tab" to see larger images)
Open Gem v5:
Open Gem v6:
< Go Back