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.