RE: VirtualBox: Can [was Can't] start VM

["Harry Binswanger" hb@xxxxxxxx]

Wouldn't right-ctrl+f get you back to a windowed situation wherein
you'd see the desktop?


-----Original Message-----
From: xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx
[mailto:xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Distefano
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 11:19 PM
To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: VirtualBox: Can [was Can't] start VM


Kari:
> You can switch the VM to full screen and back to windowed mode
with
> Host key + F. Then you set the W2K video from the Desktop
context
> menu, settings. If you set a smaller display than the underlying
host,
> it will show black borders, so you must change the host's
resolution
> to make it bigger. Or you can experiment with Scaled mode (Host
+ C)
> to have a scalable graphics display (by maximizing it you get
> something that resembles a full screen). Personally, I think you
can
> achieve better results by running Xy in a DOS window under W2K
and
> changing font size.
> But by all means do experiment...

Thank you, Kari, this is very helpful. I have indeed been
experimenting, and there's no doubt in my mind that the "something
that resembles a full screen" is the best solution for me. I know
I'm in a minority of one in some of the ways I use XyWrite (aren't
we all?), but for me it's essential to have (1) the DOS
full-screen experience (or something closely resembling it), and
(2) fine control over the screen colors within that environment.
VBox's Scaled Mode meets both of these criteria. The only
disadvantage that I'm seeing is that once you're in this Virtual
DOS Full Screen (let's call it VDFS), it's hard if not impossible
to get back to the
*virtual* (not the host) Desktop. Hitting Alt-Enter (to toggle
back to a window) or Winkey-M (to minimize all windows) invariably
crashes XyWrite, in my experience thus far. The only way back is
to quit XyWrite, which is a pain. Happily, I virtually never have
to do so, since XyWrite is really the only reason for me to
virtualize.
(If you don't count Nyet, that is, the little-known 1980s Russian
DOS game that found new life as Tetris -- screenshot attached.)

Bill:
> I have always been one to embrace as many open windows and tabs
as
> possible, but the fact is that I don't like to concentrate on
any one
> thing for very long, so this technical capability impedes my
> concentration by making it so easy for me to wander and dither.

Funny, I'm just the opposite. I find it hard to concentrate on
more than one task at a time, and for that reason I've never
bought into the "windows" concept of having multiple programs
visible on the Desktop. I have nothing against running many
programs at once, of course ("I'm not a DOS Luddite", he said,
protesting too much), but I find that most of the time I want to
focus on one program at a time and have it occupy the whole
screen. In fact, I run all of my Windows programs full-screen
probably 90 percent of the time.

> >Personally, I think you can achieve better results by running
Xy in
> >>a DOS window under W2K and changing font size. But by all
means do
> >>experiment...
>
> One reason this is true is that Windowed XyWrite lets you use
scalable
> fonts, so if you have high resolution, your font size could be
34
> points (which is very high resolution!)

I know, I've tried that, but for me it's no substitute for the DOS
full screen. That said, I'm beginning to see the merits of
windowed Xy; at work I have no choice but to run it that way, and
I've begun to adapt to it. The thing that really gets to me is the
lack of control over screen colors. Sure, you can set the
background and text colors for the DOS window, but XyWrite more
often than not overrides them, and you're back to white text on a
black background.
I've been working around that by using Xy's numbered MoDes to add
splashes of reverse-video color (a/k/a highlighting) to the white-
on-black display. It works reasonably well for my purposes.

Paul:
> The apsect ratio of the monitor does not appear to be an issue
for
> Virtualbox in Scaled Mode...

That's good to know. I'm sure my next monitor will be one of those
wide-screen jobs. Bill's point about the wide aspect ratio not
being conducive to serious writing is spot on. When I want to
produce a document for printing (not often when I'm at home), I
use the latest iteration of MS-Word, which I must say looks nice
when displayed full-screen on my good old Sony. On a wide screen I
suppose I'll have to start fussing with resized windows.
"Progress" always comes with a price.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx


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