This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Zundark (talk | contribs) at 09:44, 28 November 2001 (link to MS-DOS, remove numbering, use full sentences, fix link). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 09:44, 28 November 2001 by Zundark (talk | contribs) (link to MS-DOS, remove numbering, use full sentences, fix link)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)DOS stands for disk operating system, a kind of operating system for computers.
In particular, it is often used to refer to MS-DOS and compatible operating systems.
DOS (or DoS, to distinguish it from the first sense) also stands for denial of service.
In the context of computer networking, this is the situation where a system is attacked in such a manner that "normal" network communication is blocked by excessive traffic, or the system itself is rendered non-functional due to overload or caused to crash.
This is distinct from a compromised system, which may continue to operate but is put to subversive use or exposed to illicit monitoring
In condensed matter physics, DOS is a common acronym for density of states.
The density of states, N(E), for electronic energy levels in a solid is defined as follows: N(E)dE is the number of allowed energy levels per unit volume of the solid, in the energy range E to E+dE.