Introducing MS Windows 98, Second Edition - Chapter 18

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Archived content. No warranty is made as to technical accuracy. Content may contain URLs that were valid when originally published, but now link to sites or pages that no longer exist.

Russell Borland with John Ross
ISBN: 1-57231-920-8 

Chapter 18 and the Table of Contents of Introducing MS Windows 98, Second Edition, reprinted with permission from Microsoft Press.
https://www.microsoft.com/mspress/ 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I Installation and Setup

Chapter 1 Instructions for Installing Windows 98 

System Requirements
Installing Windows 98
Helpful Setup Features in Windows 98
The Setup Process
Uninstall
Online Registration Wizard

Chapter 2 Overview of New Features in Windows 98 

Platform for Innovation
More Power
Improved Reliability and Manageability
Internet Integration (Microsoft Internet Explorer)
Personalized Internet Information Delivery

Part II Windows 98 Faces on the Internet

Chapter 3 The Faces of Windows 98 

Revised Desktop Tools Plus Internet Integration
The Start Button
The Taskbar
Single Explorer
Active Desktop
Desktop Power for Experienced Users

Chapter 4 Introducing Internet Explorer 

New Features in Internet Explorer 4.0
Dynamic HTML
ActiveX Support
Communicating and Collaborating with Internet Explorer
Customizing Your Internet Explorer Start Page
Webcasting
Beyond Basic Webcasting: Addressing Webcrawling Issues
True Web Integration
Security Features of Internet Explorer
Internet Connection Wizard

Chapter 5 Internet Conferencing and Application Sharing with NetMeeting 2.1 

Conferencing Options of NetMeeting 2.1
User Interface Enhancements in NetMeeting 2.1
NetMeeting 2.1 in Action
Multipoint Data Conferencing
Microsoft Chat
Video Conferencing and Video Phone
Internet Phone and Audio Conferencing
Intelligent Audio and Video Stream Control
Using NetMeeting to Call Someone
System Policies
NetMeeting 2.1: A Standards-Based Platform
Microsoft NetMeeting 2.1 Resource Kit

Chapter 6 Broadcasting on Your Desktop with NetShow 2.1 

Features and Benefits of NetShow 2.1
NetShow Features New to Version 2.1
Key Technologies of NetShow
Components of NetShow Architecture
Putting NetShow to Work

Chapter 7 Windows 98 E-Mail and Messaging 

The Windows Messaging Subsystem
Outlook Express
Starting Outlook Express

Chapter 8 Authoring and Publishing 

Creating Your Own Web Pages with FrontPage Express
Publishing with Personal Web Server
Posting a Web Site with the Web Publishing Wizard
Other Tools for Authors and Developers

Part III Extending Your Reach With Windows 98

Chapter 9 Networking in Windows 98 

Networking Features of Windows 98
Easy Networking with Windows 98
Network Architecture in Windows 98
Network Provider Interface: Concurrent Support for Multiple Network Servers
Installable File System: Support for Multiple Network Redirectors
NDIS 4.1: Multiple Protocol Support
Novell NetWare Integration
Microsoft Network Integration
Network Compatibility
Protocol Support
Network Interprocess Communications Interfaces
Windows Script Host
Long Filename Support
Network Printing
Distributed Component Object Model
Network Security
Dial-Up Server

Chapter 10 Printing 

The 32-Bit Print Subsystem
Support for MS-DOS-Based Applications
Deferred Printing Support
Image Color Management Support
Installing and Configuring a Printer
Managing Print Jobs
Network Printing
Plug and Play Support

Chapter 11 Communications 

Benefits to the Windows 98 User
The Communications Architecture
The Telephony API
Centralized Modem Setup and Configuration
Device/Hardware Support
HyperTerminal
Phone Dialer

Chapter 12 Mobile Computing Services 

Three Observations About Mobile Computer Users
Three User Challenges

Chapter 13 Multimedia Services 

Making Multimedia Easier
An Ideal Platform for Home Entertainment
Multimedia Support
A Powerful Development Environment
Professional Quality
DVD Support

Chapter 14 Accessibility 

Accessibility Features in Microsoft Windows 98
Features for Users with Limited Vision
Windows 98 Features for Easier Keyboard and Mouse Input
Features for Users Who Are Hearing Impaired
Support for Alternative Input Devices
Features for Software Developers

Chapter 15 Applications and Utilities in Windows 98 

The Quick Viewers
WordPad
Paint
Kodak Imaging
HyperTerminal
The MS-DOS Editor
Disk Utilities
Maintenance Wizard

Part IV Hardware and Software Support

Chapter 16 Base System Architecture 

Important Base Architecture Components of Windows 98
A Fully Integrated Operating System
32-Bit vs. 16-Bit Components
The System Architecture Layout in Windows 98
Support for Win16-Based Applications
Support for Running MS-DOS-Based Applications
Support for Win32-Based Applications
32-Bit File System Architecture
DriveSpace Disk Compression
Memory Management
The Registry: A Centralized Configuration Store
Font Support
Year 2000 Support

Chapter 17 Plug and Play 

What Is Plug and Play?
Configuration Process in a Plug and Play System
Plug and Play Support in Windows 98
Plug and Play Architecture in Windows 98
Plug and Play Hardware Design
For More Information

Chapter 18 Display Support 

Display Settings
Energy Star Monitor Support
Multiple Display Support
Display Driver Support in Windows 98

Chapter 19 Device Support 

Device Driver Philosophy
Power Management Improvements
Disk Device Support
Mouse and Pointing Device Support

Chapter 20 International Language Support 

Major Features Supporting International Use of Windows 98
The Localization of Windows 98
International Language Issues
Multilingual Content Support
The Win32 National Language Support APIs

Chapter 21 Robustness 

Features Supporting Robustness in Windows 98
Robustness for MS-DOS-Based Applications
Robustness for Win16-Based Applications
Robustness for Win32-Based Applications

Chapter 22 Systems Management 

The Registry
User Management

Chapter 23 Broadcast Architecture: Using a TV Tuner Card with Windows 98 

WebTV for Windows
Using the Program Guide
Using the TV Toolbar
WaveTop
Index

Chapter 18: Display Support

Microsoft Windows 98 inherited strong support for video display adapters from Microsoft Windows 95, and it now adds strong support for multiple displays. Multiple display support allows you to use more than one monitor and more than one graphics adapter on a single PC at any one time. The ability to have your work displayed on multiple monitors can be extremely beneficial in many areas, including desktop publishing, Web development, video editing, and gaming environments. You'll find out more about multiple display support later in the chapter.

Windows 98 consolidates display properties into a common Display icon in the Control Panel, which allows easy customization of the colors, wallpaper, screen saver, and display adapter settings from a single location. Access to display properties is as easy as clicking Display in the Control Panel or right-clicking the desktop and selecting Properties to display the appropriate property sheet, shown in Figure 18-1 on the next page.

With the addition of the new consolidated display properties, users can now do the following:

  • See the appearance of display changes modeled on screen before the changes are applied. This capability has been referred to as What You See Before You Get It (WYSBYGI).

  • Change background settings to select patterns or wallpaper for the desktop.

  • Select a screen saver to be activated after the computer has been idle for a specified amount of time.

  • Change window appearance properties for displaying text in title bars or menus, such as the font, font style (including bold or italic), and font size.

  • Change the display settings, such as the number of colors to use with the display driver, or change the size of the desktop area on the fly (if the display driver and display adapter support this function). 

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Figure 18-1 The Display property sheet

Display Settings

The Display property sheet has been enhanced to support new display driver technology. It contains the following new features:

  • Advanced button The Settings tab on the Display property sheet includes an Advanced button that provides access to additional configuration options. (See Figure 18-2.)

  • Settings icon on the taskbar You can use a check box on the General tab to turn on the taskbar icon for quick resolution and color depth switching.

  • Resolution and color depth switching without rebooting This option on the General tab located in the Advanced Display property sheet gives you the ability to switch display color depths without rebooting. (You still need to reboot if you change font size.) Many applications and display drivers will work with this automatically, but some might need to be updated. This feature is a great utility for game developers who want to use a specific color depth. 

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Figure 18-2 The Advanced Display property sheet

  • Hardware panning Hardware panning is now enabled on lower-resolution displays such as VGA-only monitors or laptop LCD panels where the chip set supports it. If you have a monitor selected in the Monitor settings that doesn't support resolution greater than 800 by 600, hardware panning will be enabled. Hardware panning is disabled on monitors capable of 1024-by-768 resolution because it isn't normally needed. If hardware panning is enabled and the display device is capable of 800-by-600 resolution, two graphics sliders are available—one for the screen resolution and one for the virtual desktop resolution. The screen slider isn't shown for 640-by-480-only displays because it would be fixed at one setting only.

  • Hardware Acceleration slider The Hardware Acceleration slider is now accessible from the Performance tab of the Advanced Display property sheet. Users no longer have to go to the System property sheet. This slider is used to diagnose and solve display driver incompatibilities.

  • Multiple display support If multiple displays are enabled, the Settings tab is enhanced to provide a drop-down list, identifying the monitors installed on the system. This modified tab allows you to control relative screen placement by dragging, and to set individual adapter settings as described above by selecting the appropriate adapter. (For more details, see the "Multiple Display Support" section, later in the chapter.) 

Tip On some chip sets (older S3 chip sets such as 801 and Cirrus Laguna), lower-resolution modes might cause some older monitors to lose sync. This happens because the lower-resolution modes are driving the pixel clock too high. It might help to reset your display settings to VGA settings (640 by 480 by 16 colors).

Energy Star Monitor Support

Energy Star is an effort inspired by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop computer hardware and peripherals that conserve power when they are in idle states. This idea is similar to the standby mode commonly implemented in laptop computers to save power.

In a PC system, the video display monitor is typically one of the most power-hungry components. Manufacturers of newer display monitors have incorporated energy-saving features into their monitors based on the VESA Display Power Management Signaling (DPMS) specification. Based on signals from a video display adapter, software can place the monitor in standby mode or even turn it off completely, thus reducing overall power use.

Users typically display screen savers to prevent burn-in of a monitor image. Windows 98 extends this screen saver mechanism to provide both a time-delay setting that allows the user to put the display monitor in a low-power standby mode and a delay setting for turning the monitor off completely.

For example, a user might want to set options to display a specific screen saver after 5 minutes of inactivity, and then to set the PC to standby after the screen saver has displayed for 10 minutes and to turn off the monitor after 15 minutes of standby.

To take advantage of the Energy Star power-consumption mechanisms, users need both a monitor that meets the DPMS/Energy Star specifications and a video card that meets the VESA DPMS specifications. The video display driver must support the extensions necessary to control the monitor device. Several manufacturers are presently shipping monitors designed to support the Energy Star goals.

Multiple Display Support

As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, multiple display support allows you to connect more than one monitor and more than one graphics adapter to a single PC. For maximum efficiency, the user interface has been modified to recognize a desktop that spans multiple monitors, with no restrictions on size or position. For monitors attached to the same system but showing different images simultaneously, the different displays might have differing resolution and refresh rates in addition to differing display capabilities.

APIs have been added to the Win32 API set to allow any application to take full advantage of multiple monitors. Applications don't need to be modified to work on a PC with multiple monitors, but some application developers might want to take special advantage of this feature by utilizing the new APIs.

These are the most obvious benefits of multiple display support:

  • Easy development of Web sites through multiple simultaneous views of content.

  • Enhanced experiences in multimedia, gaming, and desktop publishing.

  • Simultaneous viewing of multiple applications. For example, a user might place one or more streaming Internet channel windows (such as a stock ticker or news headlines) and an image from a video surveillance camera on one monitor, while using another monitor for full-screen views of a word processor, spreadsheet, or graphics program. 

Large desktops that extend beyond the edges of a single screen aren't the only way to use multiple monitors. It's also possible to use a second monitor to display the same data as the primary monitor, or as a completely independent display that isn't part of the Windows desktop. Duplicate monitors can be useful for training and for presentations to a large group of viewers. Independent displays usually take their image directly from an application, such as a CAD program.

Using a Virtual Desktop

If you have just one monitor connected to your computer, the Windows desktop is the same size and shape as the image visible on the monitor. But when you add one or more additional monitors, the underlying desktop is larger than the image you can see on any one monitor. As Figure 18-3 on the next page shows, you can specify the virtual positions of each monitor from the Settings dialog box by dragging the monitor icons.

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Figure 18-3 The Settings dialog box controls the relative position of multiple monitors

If the monitors do not use the same resolution, they may not all display the same amount of the virtual desktop. For example, if the primary display is a 1024 x 728 monitor, but the secondary monitor can only handle 640 x 480, a portion of the virtual desktop might not be visible, as shown in Figure 18-4. In most cases, you will want to arrange the monitor windows to match the physical position of the monitors on your desk. In other words, if the portion of the virtual desktop visible in the first monitor is at the left of the portion visible in the second monitor, you should place the first monitor on the left and the second monitor on the right.

Cc767126.f18qc04(en-us,TechNet.10).gif 

Figure 18-4 A large virtual desktop with two monitors of unequal resolution

Using Independent Displays

Independent displays are monitors that show data or images that are not part of the Windows desktop. Independent displays are controlled by applications, but because they are not part of the desktop, it's not possible to drag windows or other elements (such as graphic elements) between this monitor and other monitors on the system.

Using Mirrored Monitors

Mirrored monitors are additional monitors that all display exactly the same image as the primary monitor. In order to use mirrored monitors, connect the monitors to the computer through an external video splitter.

Enabling Multiple Display Support

To take advantage of multiple display support, all of the display adapters must be PCI or AGP devices. If your computer has a built-in PCI display adapter on the motherboard, follow these steps exactly when setting up Windows 98:

  1. Run the Windows 98 Setup program with only the motherboard video in the computer, and the monitor attached to that video output.

  2. After Setup has completed successfully, shut down and add one or more additional display adapters.

  3. Connect the monitors to each display adapter.

  4. Boot the computer, and restart when prompted.

  5. In the Display property sheet, click the Settings tab. Select the secondary display/monitor combination in the Display drop-down list, and check the Extend My Windows Desktop Onto This Monitor box. The second montitor should come on, with the same background or wallpaper as the primary monitor.

  6. Repeat the process for each additional monitor. 

You can independently set the resolution and color depth for each display by selecting a monitor/adapter pair from the Display drop-down list in the Settings dialog box and changing the Colors and Screen Area settings. Also remember the following points about systems with built-in motherboard display adapters:

  • The built-in display will usually become your secondary display (or tertiary, or whatever, depending on the number of graphics boards you have in the system). The system will disable the onboard video at boot time, and the first add-in card will become your primary display. This is a function of the BIOS that isn't under your control.

  • It's important that you set up Windows 98 for the first time with only your onboard video in the system. If another adapter is present before you start Windows 98 for the first time, your system probably won't be able to initialize your onboard video properly until you run Setup without the additional graphics board or boards installed.

  • If you follow the instructions and your onboard video doesn't function correctly as the secondary display, it probably never will. It's likely the system is unable to find and read the complete ROM of the adapter to initialize it properly. You'll have to use two add-in adapters for multiple monitor support. 

If your computer's display adapter is an add-in card (in other words, none of the display adapters in the system are on the motherboard or built-in), you can install the additional graphics cards before setting up Windows 98. The instructions for working with a built-in display adapter will also work.

General Notes About Multiple Display Support

Virtually any PCI or AGP display adapter with a Windows 95 or later driver (with the noted exception of motherboard or onboard video) can be a primary display. In order to function as a secondary display, however, the display adapter must be a PCI or AGP device supported by Windows 98 as an additional display adapter. Currently, the following display adapter chip sets are supported as additional displays:

  • ATI Mach64

  • S3 764 (Trio) and 764V+ (765)

  • Cirrus 5436, 5446, and 7548

  • Imagine 128, series 1 and 2

  • S3 ViRGE

  • ET6000

  • S3 Aurora (S3M65)

  • ATI Rage 1 and 2 (VT and greater) 

As new display adaptor chip sets become available, they will almost certainly support operation in multiple displays.

Display Driver Support in Windows 98

Windows 98 display drivers provide high performance and easy setup and configuration. Benefits of the display driver support in Windows 98 include the following:

  • Stable and reliable video display adapter drivers

  • Support for multiple video cards

  • Support for changing video resolution on the fly without restarting Windows 98 (important for hot-docking and warm-docking support)

  • Video driver support for mobile computer docking and undocking, providing the ability to automatically switch between the video card in the portable computer and the video card in the base unit

  • Consistent and unified installation and configuration of display drivers and of display properties, such as colors, wallpaper patterns, and screen savers

  • Image color matching support for device-independent color usage

  • Support for hardware, such as Energy Star monitors conforming to the VESA DPMS specification, and detection of monitor properties, such as the maximum resolution supported when used with monitors that support the VESA Display Data Channel (DDC) specification 

Driver Stability and Reliability

By using a mini-driver architecture for video display adapter drivers, Windows 98 supports the range of products offered by IHVs and provides stable and reliable drivers. Windows 98 provides a universal driver to support device-independent code and performance normally handled by a monolithic video display driver and supports device-dependent code in a display mini-driver. The mini-driver uses a graphics device-independent bitmap (DIB) engine that provides a high-quality mechanism for manipulating memory bitmaps and delivers high performance.

Because mini-drivers are simpler than monolithic display drivers, they are easier to write and debug. Extensive testing on a less complex driver results in better stability and reliability in the overall operating system.

Furthermore, to ensure broad display adapter-device support in Windows 98, Microsoft developed many display drivers with the cooperation of major display controller IHVs. Microsoft also worked closely with IHVs to write additional display drivers and assisted IHVs with optimizing their display drivers for performance, tuning them for the speed of information displayed by the driver.

The use of the mini-driver architecture for display drivers in Windows 98 leverages Microsoft's development experience in writing fast, reliable graphics code with the IHVs' engineering experience, allowing IHVs to concentrate on delivering high-performance hardware-accelerated display adapters.

Video Display Performance

The video display adapters in Windows 98 are not only stable and reliable, but the display drivers show high performance. The mini-driver architecture for display drivers in Windows 98 is centered on a 32-bit DIB engine that features optimized code for fast, robust drawing for high-resolution and frame buffer-based display adapters. The use of a universal driver to provide the device-independent display adapter support instead of requiring each IHV to redesign this code allows base performance to be optimized and thus benefits all mini-driver display drivers.

Windows 98 includes drivers for nearly all popular graphics accelerators.

Robustness

The video drivers provided with Windows 98 are stringently tested to ensure their reliability and stability.

Windows 98 includes mechanisms to ensure that bad or incompatible video drivers can't prevent users from accessing the system. If a video driver fails to load or initialize when the system starts, Windows 98 defaults to the generic VGA video driver. Because driver configuration is handled through a graphical interface, users can then at least get into Windows 98 to fix the system.

Image Color Management Support

Windows 98 provides Image Color Management (ICM) support for mapping colors displayed on screen and for helping to provide consistency with colors generated on output devices.

Microsoft's first implementation of color management support was released in the Windows 95 operating system as ICM 1.0. This version of ICM was designed to address the needs of applications that don't work in colors outside of RGB (such as CMYK) and that want color management to work transparently for the user. ICM 1.0 requires International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles for all of the color devices on the user's system, and it requires the application to accurately portray colors to support the ICM 1.0 APIs.

The new APIs in ICM 2.0, supplied with Windows 98, are a complete superset of the ICM 1.0 APIs and add a new range of capabilities:

  • ICM 1.0 compatible

  • ICC compliant

  • Scalable: Simple APIs for applications such as Microsoft Office, complete control for applications such as Adobe PhotoShop

  • Same APIs for Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows NT operating systems

  • Support for Profile management at API and UI level

  • Bitmap v5 header support

  • Standard Color Space support: sRGB

  • Broader color space support: RGB, CMYK, CIELAB, and others

  • Broader support for bitmap formats

  • Improved palette handling

  • Device driver participation on the Windows 98 and Windows NT operating systems

  • Support for multiple Color Management Modules (CMM)

  • Faster default CMM that supports all ICC-compliant profiles

  • Easier installation of profiles