Re: alt enter etal (latter day Display Issues)

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:

> ** Reply to message from rgrayauto@xxxxxxxx on Thu, 22 Aug 2002 17:49:10 -0400
>
> Ralph:
>
> > Tried the alt enter on my xy III in win98 and it worked a treat. Then
> > from that screen went into dos. at prompt ran old dos program that worked
> > haltingly under w98 windows. It is running flawlessly. This may be, then,
> > a backdoor to running some dos programs under win98.
>
> You're saying that old DOS programs work better in Full Screen mode than in a
> Window? That's almost always true, because Windows emulates the video when
> running in a window on the Desktop, which is very time consuming (and always
> incredibly ugly); whereas in an 80x25 VGA Full Screen session, there are no
> such constraints, and the program, whatever it is, is simply allowed to display
> the video it was designed to display without any translation or intervention.
> I find that running old DOS programs like XyWrite in a Desktop window is
> occasionally convenient, but pathetically slow. Plus there's all that other
> Desktop clutter around, which muddles the mind.
>
> > Haven't tried the Xy under this because I run it by itself via a multi
> > boot.
>
> You run it "by itself", Full Screen, in pure DOS? Why the dickens do you do
> that? What are the advantages? Seems entirely unnecessary to me. Why not run
> it Full Screen in Win98?

My father is now running Xy-3 on what must be at least the 5th. or 6th. generation
of PC system hardware he has used. This currently consists of a fast P-4 box
running W2K Pro, on a Viewsonic flat panel monitor (one of their more basic
models). I'm not sure if it's a vision thing, or just personal preference, but I
have a hard time persuading him to consider running at a resolution greater than
800 x 600. He says that is sharp enough for him, and he doesn't like the icons
getting smaller.

Anyway, I printed out most of the comments and suggestions I could find from this
List over the past year or two pertaining to later-hardware display issues, to have
this available for reference. There was discussion of flat panels, full-screen vs.
windowed sessions, screen size, and recommendations about ULTRAVISION, FONTHT, and
use of some shareware substitute fonts. I myself still use a large CRT, and Xy-4
rather than 3 (primarily under OS/2), but also have a W2K boot option. Ultimately,
I'm going to try out and compare all of these options, both for myself here, and re
the setup at my father's home office. On my last visit there, I only had time to
implement a quick & dirty "fix" for the full-screen / flat panel / W2K DOS emulater
situation: a XY-change to  d SL=50  in Startup.Int. It looks like hell, but the
full display is there so it gets around the whole "whatever happened to the other
half of my screen ?" complaint. He tells me he doesn't care that much what the
onscreen characters look like. This will do until I uncover some better solution,
which will (as usual) have to be transparent to an unsophisticated computer user
and pretty failsafe, in order to pass muster.

The laptop he also uses is a whole 'nother story, one best left for another day.
It seems to me that some of these issues were much easier to deal with under W98 --
particularly as concerns the laptop -- but I could easily be wrong.

Jordan