If you own an original MS-DOS 6.22 license (e.g., from a vintage PC or a Microsoft Developer Network CD from the 1990s), you are legally entitled to download a backup copy from archival sources. However, for most users, the abandonware route is the practical solution.
By 1994, graphical user interfaces were ascendant. Windows 3.11 for Workgroups had brought networking and a more polished GUI to businesses, and Windows 95 was on the horizon. Yet, MS-DOS remained the underlying foundation. MS-DOS 6.22 was unique because it was the final version released without the "Windows" branding integrated into its core. It followed the controversial MS-DOS 6.0 (which had a buggy DoubleSpace compression tool) and sought to restore confidence. Microsoft settled a lawsuit with Stac Electronics over compression technology, replacing DoubleSpace with DriveSpace in version 6.22. This iteration was stable, efficient, and became the gold standard for DOS-based games, embedded systems, and legacy corporate applications. Downloading MS-DOS 6.22 today is often an act of historical preservation—a way to run classic software exactly as its authors intended.
If you find a set of disks labeled 6.22, you are looking at the version that fixed the lawsuit, making it the most legally "safe" and stable version of the final era.
It also included a simple but effective Undelete tool, which could recover files you accidentally erased—a lifesaver before the "Recycle Bin" became a standard concept in Windows 95.