Re: 3+/4 screen fonts in Win98 [was: MSWord Print]

[fenda@xxxxxxxx]

Wolfgang,
Really a very useful post!
Manuel Castelao

Wolfgang Bechstein wrote:
>
> Jay Harlow  wrote:
>
> > This thread gives me some hope. Ever since I moved my Xy3+ to a Win95
> > (now 98) machine, I have been frustrated by the limited choices of font
> > for screen display. The drop-down menu at the top of the window gives a
> > choice of sizes for two fonts -- one a clunky, always-boldface (to my
> > eye, at least) roman, tiring for more than a few minutes' work, the
> > other a very thin sans serif with small caps that are almost
> > indistinguishable from l.c.
>
> This query, like many others about running the DOS versions of XyWrite
> under Windows, has nothing to do with XyWrite per se. Rather, the
> problems you are having are related to how a DOS program (any DOS
> program) is run and displayed under Windows. (In that regard, which
> version of Windows one is using and even on which hardware and at which
> resolution is much more relevant than which version of Xy.)
>
> Anyhow, you are up against a sore limitation of Windows 95/98/Me, namely
> the poor selection of screen fonts for the DOS box. Even if you have
> selected both TrueType and Bitmap fonts in the "Font" tab of Properties
> for the DOS box, you still get only the choice you describe, and the
> window is not freely scalable (it only jumps to certain fixed sizes when
> you try to drag the lower right corner). There is no complete remedy for
> this, but there are a few things you can do. Some additional bitmap
> fonts (freeware and low-priced shareware) can be found here:
>
> http://www.uwe-sieber.de/dosfon_e.html
>
> A web search might possibly turn up more.
>
> An explanation of how to modify SYSTEM.INI to give more sizes for DOS
> boxes with TTF fonts is here:
>
> http://twcny.rr.com/technofile/texts/tec070499.html
>
> Changing the screen resolution of Windows (right-click anywhere on the
> desktop and select Properties -- Settings) will also affect how the DOS
> boxes look. Some experimentation might be in order, provided your
> hardware (monitor/video card combination) is up to it.
>
> > Full screen looks worse, and seems to offer no options
>
> For full screen DOS, even under Windows, I use a wonderful program
> called Ultravision which gives me a wide range of fonts that look much
> better than the ordinary DOS font. Unfortunately, it is somewhat
> hardware dependent, and even more unfortunately, it is orphaned and not
> findable on the web, as far as I know. (I have a commercial version
> dating from 1992.) I successfully got Ultravision to run under Win 95
> and Win 98 on a generic desktop with a vanilla video card (sorry, no
> details now) as well as on two Compaq laptops, one with an 800x600 TFT
> and one with a 1024x768 TFT screen. Currently, I am using it on an HP
> Omnibook with a 15-inch 1400x1050 TFT display. I wouldn't consider
> working in full-screen Xy without UV, since my work involves typing and
> staring at the screen for many hours a day. I think there are also some
> pre-Windows utilities for tweaking DOS screen fonts out there, but since
> I have no need for them (thanks to Ultravision), I don't have any
> details.
>
> Hope this gets you started on the road towards a better looking XyDOS
> screen. Incidentally, you might also want to look into utilities that
> let you access the full range of colors for text-based DOS programs,
> rather than the garish defaults.
>
> Wolfgang Bechstein
> bechstein@xxxxxxxx