DOSurf - a web browser for DOS on Pentium PCs
=============================================
A port of the NetSurf browser with VESA graphics, HTTPS (TLS 1.3), modern
CSS and JavaScript (QuickJS-ng). It runs on plain MS-DOS 7.x or FreeDOS,
without Windows.
This is the development snapshot 2026-11-14. So far it has run in emulators
(DOSBox-X, 86Box) only, not on real hardware.
Project page, source code and newer versions:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosurf/
WHAT YOU NEED
CPU Pentium or better
RAM 32 MB, better 64 MB
DOS MS-DOS 7.x (the DOS of Windows 9x) or FreeDOS with a FAT32
kernel; not MS-DOS 6.22
Graphics VESA VBE 1.2 or newer, 16 or 32 bits per pixel
Network a packet driver for your network card; DHCP, or a fixed
address in WATTCP.CFG
Mouse a mouse driver such as CTMOUSE
INSTALLING
Copy this directory to the DOS disk with a system that writes long file
names (Windows, Linux, or DOS with an LFN driver): the files under RES
have long names. DOSurf itself reads them without Windows.
CWSDPMI.EXE has to stay beside DOSURF.EXE.
STARTING
Load the packet driver of your network card first. The driver is not part
of this package. For an NE2000 card (what DOSBox-X and 86Box emulate) and
the driver from the Crynwr collection:
NE2000 0x60 3 0x300
SET WATTCP.CFG=C:\DOSURF
DOSURF https://en.wikipedia.org/
Alt+X quits
Ctrl+A marks the whole address in the address bar, as a double
click does; what you type next replaces it
Ctrl+U clears the address bar
Ctrl+J switches JavaScript off for the current page (remembered in
NOJS.TXT)
Settings are in RES\Choices (NetSurf's format); enable_javascript:0
switches JavaScript off altogether. The resolution is chosen
automatically: 1024x768, 800x600 or 640x480.
LICENCE
DOSurf is free software under the GNU General Public License version 2
with NetSurf's exception for OpenSSL: see LICENSE.TXT. It comes with NO
WARRANTY.
The source code is offered in the same place as this package, as
dosurf-2026-11-14-src.zip under
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosurf/files/
and in the git repository https://sourceforge.net/p/dosurf/code/
DOSURF.EXE contains the following works, each under its own licence; the
texts are in the directory LICENSES:
NetSurf and its libraries libcss, libdom, libhubbub, libparserutils,
libwapcaplet, libnsutils, libnsbmp, libnsgif, libnsfb and libsvgtiny
QuickJS-ng OpenSSL curl Watt-32
zlib libpng libjpeg-turbo libwebp
Expat
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
This product includes software developed by Gisle Vanem, Bergen, Norway,
and software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its
contributors (both in Watt-32).
DOSURF.EXE was built with DJGPP, the port of GCC to DOS, and contains its
C library. DJGPP is available from https://www.delorie.com/djgpp/
RES\ca-bundle.pem is the list of certificate authorities of the Mozilla
project (Mozilla Public License 2.0) as converted by the curl project,
https://curl.se/docs/caextract.html
CWSDPMI.EXE is the DPMI host by Charles W. Sandmann, unmodified; see
CWSDPMI.DOC. You have the right to receive its source code and binary
updates: csdpmi7s.zip and csdpmi7b.zip under
https://www.delorie.com/pub/djgpp/current/v2misc/
