Microsoft kept DOS for compatibility and nothing else. Win95 includes
   MS-DOS 7.0, which under Win95, is a multitasking DOS. DOS programs run
   in protected sessions like Win95 programs do, and the system
   pre-emptively task-switches between Win32 sessions, DOS sessions, and
   the single Win 3.1 session.
   
   COMMAND.COM is now a multitasking command prompt. Win95 can unload it
   on command, unless a DOS program is running from it. Some Win32
   character-based programs can run from here if they don't depend on
   Windows NT features. Outside of Win95 though, COMMAND.COM, and the
   rest of DOS, is just DOS.
   
   The biggest difference between old DOS and DOS 7.0, is it does not
   allow direct disk writes, to prevent long filename corruption and
   virus infection. Effectively, if a program tries to write to the disk
   directly while outside of Win95, you will get an evil message telling
   you to restart your computer. Normally this is good, but some "good"
   programs (like Windows 3.1 running 32-bit disk access, which DOES work
   in DOS 7.0 by the way) need to access the disk directly. If you can
   trust such programs, type:

LOCK C: (or whatever drive letter)

   before running the program. Notice, however, that lock c: only works
   outside of Win95 (like when you "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode"
   for example), and within Win95, no direct writes are allowed under any
   circumstance.
   
   Some DOS TSRs no longer supported under Explorer are print and subst
   (though subst seems to work in 32-bit mode once you finish installing
   Win95). As a general rule, don't run any DOS TSRs that fiddle with the
   disk handler or require direct access to hardware.
   
   4.00.950B users will notice their DOS apps will report their DOS
   version as MS-DOS 7.10. This version of DOS supports FAT32 file
   systems. The "32" refers to the number of bits the File Allocation
   Table supports, and as such it can support smaller cluster sizes on
   larger (> 1 GB) drives. FAT32 file systems will not work with DOS
   utilities designed for older versions of DOS. DOS 7.10's scandisk does
   fix serious problems, and Win95 Defrag still does a great job of
   unfragmenting FAT32 drives.