What's the difference between a DOS and Windows text file?

I thought they were the same but they are not. Below is an explanation from the Microsoft web site (Article ID : 290859). I found this while digging through the help on Import/Export features in Outlook.

MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows
You should make the decision to use the MS-DOS or Windows converter based on the text character set used in your data. ASCII is a character set used by many MS-DOS programs, and ANSI is a character set used by many Windows programs. The main difference between ASCII and ANSI are the upper 128 characters; the lower 128 characters are the same. The upper 128 characters are often referred to as extended characters. ASCII extended characters include line draw characters while ANSI extended characters include international characters and publishing symbols.

Based on my own investigation the ASCII or DOS standard is static. The reference to the ANSI character set has been misconstrued over the years. The following paragraph should help clarify this misconception.

From the Windows glossary: (http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/glossary.mspx)
ANSI: Acronym for the American National Standards Institute. The term “ANSI” as used to signify Windows code pages is a historical reference, but is nowadays a misnomer that continues to persist in the Windows community. The source of this comes from the fact that the Windows code page 1252 was originally based on an ANSI draft—which became International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 8859-1. “ANSI applications” are usually a reference to non-Unicode or code page–based applications.

What this means to a surveyor or civil engineer.

From a data collection standpoint it is safer to import and export text files using the old ASCII format. You will rarely need to use any extended characters. In fact, your data collection equipment may not even support those extended characters.

Example of the ASCII character set.

I have not found a clear single definition for a "Windows text file" format. I suggest avoiding it's use since I cannot accurately predict it's behavior.

Unicode seems to be the way to go when you need to use characters as the degree symbol (Alt-0176)(°) or the plus-minus symbol (Alt-0177)(±). You can access the unicode symbols through the Windows Character Map found with the following clicks in WindowsXP:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map.

From the Character Map help file:
If you know the Unicode equivalent of the character you want to insert, you can also insert a special character directly into a document without using Character Map. To do so, open the document and position the insertion point where you want the special character to appear. Then, with NUM LOCK on, hold down the ALT key while using the number pad keys to type the Unicode character value.
(Most Laptops have the number pad built into the normal keyboard. Does your K key also have the number 2 printed on it?)