4.5 DOS / UNIX Reference Table
4.5.1 Reference table
Even though all of the newer operating systems including Microsoft Windows 9x, Millennium Edition (ME), Windows NT/2000 and Solaris have graphical user interfaces, they all still have a command prompt available. Knowledge of the command line and command syntax for any operating system is still quite valuable in today's Information Technology world. Graphical User Environments are nice but sometimes the command line is all that is available for performing critical system tasks and troubleshooting. You may be at home, for example, and need to access your system at school or work. Bringing up a GUI over a modem would be extremely slow so command line access is a nice option.

Command line capabilities are generally more powerful and flexible than GUI interfaces, especially in the UNIX environment. In addition, system administrators frequently construct scripts (similar to batch files in DOS, NT and other operating systems) containing commands to support end users, perform system administration functions, and automate routine tasks.

Some users who are new to the UNIX operating system may have a background in DOS which will make learning UNIX commands easier. The table shown lists some of the more common DOS commands and their UNIX equivalent. Since UNIX predated DOS, most DOS commands are based on those found in UNIX. In general, UNIX commands can do everything DOS commands can do and more. For instance, the DOS DIR command will list the files in a directory. The UNIX ls list command will do the same but has many more options available. There are also UNIX commands that DOS does not have an equivalent for such as the mv (move) command. The following table will help you transition from the DOS to the UNIX world. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the commands in either operating system. As usual, the 80/20 rule applies. You can do 80 percent of what you normally need to do on a daily basis with 20 percent of the tools or commands available. 

Note: All UNIX commands are lower case as shown in Figure.