Two ways to run WPDOS on Mac hardware | Full-screen WPDOS on Parallels or Fusion | Printing under Parallels or Fusion | WPDOS under Windows in Boot Camp | Home page
Read this first: This page describes the two basic methods of running WordPerfect for DOS (under Windows) on any recent Intel-based Apple Macintosh computer, either (a) through Apple's Boot Camp, which makes your Intel-based Mac act as if it were any ordinary computer running Windows or (b) by creating and using a Windows "virtual machine" on the Mac OS X desktop, by using one of two different commercial software packages, Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. If you want to read about WordPerfect for the Macintosh, which is an entirely different program from WordPerfect for DOS, see a separate page about WPMac.
Please make sure you understand what this page is about! If you are in any doubt, please read the preceding paragraph again (and, if necessary, again and again) until you are absolutely certain that you understand it! Remember: this page is not about WordPerfect for the Macintosh! It is about WordPerfect for DOS (an entirely different program written for DOS and Windows computers), running on a Macintosh computer.
All of the instructions below have been tested with Windows XP installed on a Macintosh computer. I have not tried these methods with Windows Vista, because printing from WPDOS under Vista is convenient only with printers that are connected by a parallel port, and Macintosh computers do not include a parallel port.
WordPerfect for DOS can be run under Windows XP or Vista in two different ways on recent Intel-based Macintosh computers: either (a) through Apple's Boot Camp or (b) through "virtualization" software such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. (If you do not know what "virtualization" software is, see the description on another page.) Choose between either:
(a) Boot Camp, a built-in feature of OS X 10.4 "Leopard" (and presumably all future versions of OS X), which lets you convert your Macintosh into a dual-boot machine that can run both Macintosh OS X and Windows (either XP or Vista, depending on which one you choose to install). You can decide at any time whether to boot your Macintosh computer into OS X or into Windows. When you boot your machine into Windows through Boot Camp, your Macintosh works as a standard Windows machine, just like any other Windows machine, and your Mac programs will not be available until you reboot the system to the Macintosh OS.
See the further notes about WPDOS under Boot Camp in the separate Boot Camp section on this page.
... or (b) Virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. These programs (and a few similar programs that I have not tested and that I have no intention of testing) run Windows XP or Vista as if the whole Windows system is running as a program inside the Mac OS. You can switch instantly between Mac programs and programs running under Windows. Please visit the vendors' web sites for these programs to find out more about them; you may find these sites through a simple web search.
Virtualization software has many advantages, but also some limitations. Neither Parallels nor Fusion allows WPDOS to display high-resolution VESA graphics, so any WPDOS graphics screen (print preview, image editing, page view, etc.), when used with Parallels or Fusion, appears only as a small window on the Macintosh desktop. In contrast, under Boot Camp, with Windows XP, a WPDOS graphics screen fills the Macintosh screen, exactly as it does on an ordinary Windows computer.
See the further information on this page on full-screen WPDOS and printing from WPDOS under Parallels or Fusion.
In either case, you should install WPDOS exactly as you would install it under any other Windows system. See many other pages on this site for further details.
You may prefer to use WPDOS in its full-screen text-editing mode, instead of using it in a small window on the Windows desktop (if you do not understand the difference between windowed and full-screen mode, see a separate page on this site). To run WPDOS under Parallels or VMware Fusionso that WPDOS fills the Macintosh screen while you type and edit text in the traditional white-on-blue WPDOS screen, you must download and install the Tame utility into your Windows system. After installing Tame, proceed with the instructions below.
(1) This step is required for Parallels only, not Fusion: Modify your WPDOS shortcut by highlighting it and pressing Shift-F10, then choose Properties from the menu. Go the Misc tab; remove the checkmark (if any) next to Alt-Enter at the bottom of the tab. Press OK. This will reserve the Alt-Enter key for use by Parallels.
(2) For Parallels and Fusion: Parallels and Fusion normally appear as a window on the Macintosh desktop; to toggle Parallel or Fusion to full-screen mode (so that the Mac desktop disappears), you must press a special key-combination. In Parallels, the toggle key is Alt-Enter. In Fusion, the toggle key is Ctrl-Cmd-Enter (the Cmd key on the Macintosh keyboard is the key at the left of the spacebar, marked with an Apple logo and a square with loops at each corner)
(3) For Parallels and Fusion: Run WPDOS. With Tame installed on the system, WPDOS normally opens in windowed mode. Use the icon at the upper-left corner of the WPDOS window to open the Tame menu; go to View, Primary Font, and choose a font size that you feel comfortable with (I use 14). Next, to switch WPDOS into full-screen mode, press Cmd-Enter (Cmd is the key on the Macintosh keyboard to the left of the spacebar, marked with an Apple logo and a square with loops at each corner). WPDOS will now fill your Macintosh screen. Press Cmd-Enter when you want to toggle WPDOS back to windowed mode from full-screen mode in Windows.
Remember that if you enter any WPDOS graphics mode, such as print preview, WPDOS will reduce itself to a small window in the middle of your desktop, and you may need to press a few keys to get it back to full-screen mode.
Also remember: Under Parallels, press Alt-Enter to toggle Windows from full-screen back to windowed mode on the Mac OS X desktop. Under Fusion, press Ctrl-Cmd-Enter to toggle Windows from full-screen back to windowed mode on the Mac OS X desktop.
Feel free to experiment with Parallels' "Coherence" mode or Fusion's "Unity" mode (in which a single Windows program appears in a window on the Mac desktop, while the rest of the Windows desktop remains hidden) but I don't recommend these modes with DOS-based applications such as WPDOS; they can make Parallels and Fusion unstable.
The following methods have been tested under Windows XP on a Macintosh system. They will almost certainly not work with Windows Vista on a Mac.
Note: To print from WPDOS under Windows Vista on a Mac, read the instructions below and follow all the details specified, but instead of following the instructions to enter the net use command, follow the general instructions elsewhere on this site for using the "PrintFile" method of printing to USB, wireless, or networked printers. You will need to adapt the method for use on your Vista-based system.
Warning for Parallels Desktop and for VMware Fusion 1.x only (not relevant to Fusion 2.0): Do not try to use the built-in "virtual printers" that are automatically installed in Windows by Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion 1.x. You cannot print from WPDOS through these virtual printers. To print from WPDOS under Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion 1.x, you must print as if you were printing across the network from a separate Windows computer to a remote printer, even if your printer is directly connected to your Macintosh.
Simple method (for VMware Fusion 2.0 only) to print from WPDOS to your default Mac printer:
Close down your VMware Fusion copy of Windows. On the VMware Fusion "Virtual Machine Library" select your copy of Windows and click Settings. Click Printers; add a checkbox next to Enabled and choose "Match the default printer on the Mac." Close the Settings menu, and start your Windows XP virtual machine. The Windows XP list of printers (use the Control Panel or Settings to find it if necessary) will list your Mac default printer, perhaps with a "#2" after its name, and the printer icon will have a checkmark, indicating that it is the Windows XP default printer.
Start WPDOS in your Windows XP system and select a PostScript printer driver; the Apple LaserWriter IINTX is probably best; if you want to print in color, choose the Tektronix Phaser ColorPrint driver instead. Do this even if your actual printer is not a PostScript printer. (If you do not understand this paragraph, please read it again and again until you are absolutely certain that you understand it.) Close WPDOS.
Depending on your Windows XP configuration, use Start/Control Panel (or Start/Settings/Control Panel), and choose Performance and Maintenance, then System (or go directly to System), then to the Computer Name tab, and write down the "Full computer name" (not the Computer description or Workgroup or any other name). Click Cancel and close the Control Panel. For example, your computer might be named WinMac.
Then use Start/Control Panel/Printers and Faxes (or Start/Settings/Printers and Faxes, or Start/Settings/Printers) and right-click on the name of your default printer. Select Sharing from the pop-up menu. If your default printer does not already have a sharename under Windows XP, give it one (with no spaces or quotation marks, and preferably only a few letters long, like dj6980). Click OK and exit the Sharing tab and printer list (if it is visible).
Use Start/Run and enter CMD, then click OK or press Enter. A DOS-like command window will open. At the prompt, enter a command that looks like this (replace WinMac with the full name of your computer and replace dj6980 with the sharename of your actual printer!!):
net use lpt1 \\WinMac\dj6980 /persistent:yes
Note: If, after giving this command, you see an error message (typically something about error code 66), then remove the sharename of your printer and disable sharing for the printer; press OK. Then repeat the procedure of assigning a sharename to the printer and try the command again.
Now print from WPDOS. If, and only if, you have followed the instructions correctly, the printout will emerge from your printer.
Simple method (for Parallels Desktop and for VMware Fusion 1.0) for use with the same PostScript printer used by your Mac:
The simplest way to accomplish this is to "share" a PostScript printer that you use with your Mac so that it is available as a networked printer in your Parallels-based or Fusion-based Windows XP system. For this simple method to work, your printer must be a PostScript printer or a printer that combines PostScript support with support for other printer languages, such as a mid- or high-priced HP LaserJet. Perform the following steps:
(1) Set up your Parallels-based or Fusion-based Windows XP system that it can "see" your Mac on its network. If you have any trouble doing this, ask in the support forums for your Parallels or Fusion software. To make absolutely certain that you can see your Mac from your Windows system, open a command prompt in your Windows XP system (Start/Run, then enter CMD, is one way to do this) and enter the command NET VIEW. You should see the network name of your Mac on the list of servers.
(2) In OS X 10.5 "Leopard", open System Preferences; go to Sharing, add a checkbox next to Printer Sharing, and then add a checkbox next to the printer that you want to share. While you are in OS X, make sure you know what the sharename of your Mac is; this is the name of your whole computer; it is probably something like "MacBook" or "iMac" or perhaps some other name that you specified while you were setting up the system. If you do not know what the name of your Mac is, search the web for advice on how to learn its name. The sharename of your computer is not the same as the name of your hard disk - in other words, it is almost certainly not "Macintosh HD"!
(3) Return to your Windows XP system. Open a command prompt and enter the command
net view \\SharenameOfYourMac
but replace "SharenameOfYourMac" with the actual sharename of your Mac. ("SharenameOfYourMac" is only an example; it will not work on your system. Make absolutely certain that you really and truly understand the concept of an "example" before you proceed!) If you still do not understand this paragraph, or if you do not understand what an "example" means, stop now, and do not even think of proceeding until you find someone who can explain them to you.
The output from the preceding command should include a line that looks like:
HP Some Printer or Other 4000 Print
The first part of this (without the word "Print" on the right!) is the sharename of your printer. Again, this is an example; your actual printer will have a completely different name! Take careful note of what that name is. Do not try to use the example, because it will not work! Don't be clueless! Don't try to use this example because you don't know what name you should use on your actual system!
(4) Still at the Windows command prompt, enter the following command, replacing the two examples with the actual sharenames of your Mac and your printer. You absolutely must remember that the examples shown here will not work on your system! Don't be clueless! You must replace the examples with the actual names! Also, you must use the quotation marks, as shown, if there are spaces anywhere in either of the two sharenames.
net use lpt1 "\\ShareNameOfYourMac\HP Some Printer or Other 4000"
If you see a message that says "The command completed successfully", then continue. If you do not see such a message, try again, and reread all the instructions above, very carefully!
(5) Open WPDOS. Select a PostScript printer driver, such as the Apple LaserWriter IINTX, and set the output port to LPT1 (which is the default setting). You will be able to print from WPDOS.
Complicated method (for Parallels Desktop and for VMware Fusion 1.0) for use with non-PostScript printers:
This method requires you to set up your actual printer as a printer accessed through the network of your Windows XP system. Perform the following steps.
(1) and (2) Perform the same two steps listed above under the "Simple method".
(3) In your Windows XP system, download and install Bonjour for Windows. Run the Desktop Printer Wizard and install your printer in Windows.
(4) Still in your Windows XP system, download and install this site's automated-installation method of printing to any Windows printer. Follow the instructions on the linked page.
After installing Windows through Boot Camp, you will have a standard Windows machine that uses Macintosh hardware instead of Dell or HP or any other standard Windows-based computer hardware. You will install a printer in the same way you would install a printer on any Windows machine. Because Macintosh hardware does not include a parallel port, you will probably use either a USB-based printer or a network-based printer. For instructions on printing to a USB or wireless-based printers under Windows, see a separate page on this site. For instructions on printing to a networked printer under Windows, see another separate page on this site.
You can switch between full-screen and windowed WPDOS under Windows exactly as you do on a standard Windows machine (and keep in mind that it will probably be impossible to switch WPDOS to full-screen mode under Windows Vista).
As with all Windows-based systems, I strongly recommend that you install Tame for the best possible performance and for the greatest possible flexibility in setting window-size, display fonts, and other features.
On many current Macintosh computers, the built-in video hardware supports high-resolution VESA graphics. (However, see the following paragraph for one minor problem.) I cannot tell you whether your Mac supports high-resolution VESA graphics, so please do not ask me! You can find out whether your Mac supports high-resolution VESA graphics by installing WPDOS under Boot Camp and testing it.
If you use a Macintosh with a built-in monitor, such as a laptop or an iMac, you have a wide-screen monitor, with different proportions from the standard 80x25 DOS screen that WPDOS expects. This means that the WPDOS text screen will be slightly stretched horizontally, and that WPDOS graphics screens will be similarly stretched. The only solution is to attach a standard-proportion (not wide-screen) external monitor to the video port on your Mac. If your Mac is one that has no built-in monitor, such as a Mac Mini or Mac Pro, then you can simply attach a standard-proportion monitor, and you will see the screen proportions that you expect from WPDOS.