What's with the cryptic "Create MS-DOS boot disk" checkbox in the disk format menu?

Question

DOS

No matter how many different media I format, this menu item is always marked as inactive.
Google finds only old articles with recommendations to buy a floppy disk and check this box when formatting.
I wonder if there is any use for this feature these days?

Answer 1

The item is needed to create an MSDOS boot disk, oddly enough.

I wonder if there is any use for this feature these days?

No, except in some special cases.
Some places are still using old operating systems, including MSDOS, which may be needed there.
But the vast majority of users and system administrators don't deal with DOS or floppy disks.

Answer 2

This formatting window looks the same for any disk. Both for the hard drive and for the floppy disk. When formatting removable media, you need to look for this checkbox.