Running Applications in Windows
Running MS-DOS Applications
To run DOS applications in the largest possible "window" with maximum clarity:-
-
Try a Windows DOS box in "Full-screen" mode. (Right click the application's Windows Desktop Shortcut, select Properties, the Screen tab, and set the Full-screen option).
-
If this produces a "centered" window covering only part of the screen (it might with an LCD monitor) try a Windows DOS box in "Window" mode. (Exit the window. Right click the application's Windows Shortcut, select Properties, the Screen tab, and set the Window option). Then select the Font tab and choose a Font size to maximise the size of the window within the native resolution of the monitor without creating scroll bars. (See "Font size for maximum Windows DOS Boxes". PROCON 's Hi-Visibility HVFont package includes Terminal font sizes matching all common monitor resolutions.)
For more detailed information on running DOS applications in s Windows' Terminal see:- Running PROCON's MS-DOS applications under Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista.
Running Windows Applications
In an ideal world we would run Windows applications at the highest screen resolution supported by the monitor. In practice, we often have to use a lower resolution to get acceptable system performance and - most importantly - to ensure icons and fonts are large enough to work with.
Windows allows you to select larger icons and font sizes. (From the Windows Desktop, right click on the Desktop, select the Effects tab, and choose Use Large Icons. Then select the Settings tab, choose Advanced, and select Large Fonts.)
However, many Windows applications - and Windows itself - make extensive use of raster (bitmapped) fonts. The raster fonts supplied with Windows include only a few sizes - usually producing characters less than 18 pixels high. These point sizes were adequate on the small, low resolution monitors of yesteryear. On modern large resolution monitors, they produce text so small it is almost "greeked".
If you find you can't run a system at maximum resolution (native resolution for LCD screens) because text is unreadable, install additional font packages that offer larger character sizes. (See PROCON's Hi-Visibility HVFont package.)