DOS/V is a Japanese computing initiative starting in 1990 to allow DOS on IBM PC compatibles with VGA cards to handle double-byte (DBCS) Japanese text via software alone. It was initially developed from PC DOS by IBM for its PS/55 machines (a localized version of the PS/2), but IBM gave the driver source code to Microsoft, who then licensed a DOS/V-compatible version of MS-DOS to other companies. Kanji fonts and other locale information are stored on the hard disk rather than on special chips as in the preceding AX architecture. As with AX, its great value for the Japanese computing industry is in allowing compatibility with foreign software. This had not been possible under NEC's proprietary PC-98 system, which was the market leader before DOS/V emerged. DOS/V stands for "Disk Operating System/VGA" (not "version 5"; DOS/V came out at approximately the same time as DOS 5). In Japan, IBM compatible PCs became popular along with DOS/V, so they are often referred to as "DOS/V machine" or "DOS/V pasocom" even though DOS/V operating systems are no longer common. The promotion of DOS/V was done by IBM and its consortium called PC Open Architecture Developers' Group (OADG). Digital Research released a Japanese DOS/V-compatible version of DR DOS 6.0 in 1992. History In the early 1980s, IBM Japan developed two x86-based personal computer lines for the Asia-Pacific region, IBM 5550 and IBM JX. The 5550 reads Kanji fonts from the disk, and draws text as graphic characters on 1024×768 high resolution monitor. The JX extends IBM PCjr and IBM PC architecture. It supports English and Japanese versions of PC DOS with 720×512 resolution monitor. Both machines couldn't break dominant NEC's PC-98 in consumer market in Japan. Because the 5550 was expensive, it was mostly sold for large enterprises who used IBM's mainframe. The JX used 8088 processor instead of faster 8086 processor because IBM thought a consumer-class JX mustn't surpass a business-class 5550. It damaged buyer's reputations whatever the actual speed was. In another point, a software company said IBM was uncooperative for developing JX software. IBM Japan planned a 100% PC/AT compatible machine codenamed "JX2", but cancelled it in 1986. Masahiko Hatori was a developer of JX's DOS. Through the development of JX, he learned the skills needed to localize an English computer into Japanese. In 1987, he started developing the DOS/V during spare time at IBM Yamato Development Laboratory. He thought