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Maybe get an old PC/laptop for a few dollars and dedicate it to DOS programs. I do that with an old 486 laptop for CNC software. I bought an old Pentium laptop for $50 a few years ago, batteries still work too, similar thing would be as cheap as chips now($20?) and plenty of grunt for DOS use.
I read some time ago that the reason most CNC software(and probably Mel's software?) run on DOS is that Winblows does not allow direct access to the ports, therefore, no good for time critical applications.
I've never found any CNC software that runs under windows and drives steppers directly off the Parallel port. All the windows CNC software I've seen sends commands via Serial or USB to an external microprocessor(usually a PIC or AVR) that then generates the stepper pulses. So Astro related software is probably in the same boat me-thinks.
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