Tim

I have just picked CA52 (Cambridge 1952) at random to try on Windows 7 (version 6.1.7600 Build 7600 – the version that will be available on all new machines from November (?). Double clicking on the CA52.EXE program opens up a command window as  usual and the program runs ok with full mouse functionality but no sound – no fiddling required. There is the advantage that you can adjust the size of the window by right-clicking the icon in the top left hand corner of the title bar, selecting Properties and changing the size on the Font tab – 12 x 16 gives a very usable and clear sized window. I expect that most of the Traffic Control programs will work in the same way.

DosBox 0.73 also works well on Windows 7 – it will give you sound, but at the expense of having to set up the additional DOS commands to mount a drive and then execute the program. I also find getting a window the right size a bit fiddly. You can use full screen but it doesn't look too good on a large (say 20" monitor with high resolution) monitor.

NB You will also have to either turn off UAC (which is easy in Win 7), or use the ESCAPE key command to set the directories to which files can be written to one of the USER's liberaries (e.g. somewhere in the Documents folder) if you want to save a position, or create LOG files.

It does strike me, however, that the programs might easily be adapted by adding a substitute sound module which plays an appropriate *.WAV file via the windows OS instead of the DOS Beep() or SB16 calls. This would make the programs compatible on all Windows OS from 95 to Win 7. It should work well with existing code and a recompilation.

John Tempest