Post by F. W.Hmm...if I buy a modern notebook with FreeDOS on it, is the hardware
configured?
FW
Considering that it came with FreeDOS, whichever party bundles the FreeDOS,
must configure the laptop's firmware so that it can legacy OS boot bethod,
by enabling CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in the laptop firmware
settings.
With CSM enabled, most of the basic hardwares will work in DOS. i.e. display
adapter / VGA, storage devices (i.e. disk drive, harddisk, SSD), keyboard,
and mouse including mouse-typed touchpad. Other devices will require
separate DOS drivers, but not every laptop manufacturers provide them. For
e.g. non mouse-typed touchpad, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, card reader, camera,
fingerprint reader, etc. Though, devices which are built for moderm OSes
such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, camera, and fingerprint reader are very
likely don't have any DOS drivers.
Windows can still be installed with CSM, but the OS won't support Secure
Boot feature since it's not compatible with CSM. CSM will have to be
disabled in order to enable Secure Boot, but that will also disable support
for legacy OS boot. Though, third party tool(s) may be available for
providing logacy OS boot without CSM, but I don't know how compatible or
effective they would be.