Ruth A. Kramer said:
> Ok, an Emacs proponent--maybe I can ask an Emacs question or two:
>
>    * How do you change the font and size in Emacs (or Xemacs)?  (One big
> turnoff to Emacs for me has been that the default fonts are too small
> and ugly (not easy to read for me), and I've not found the way to change
> them.

In XEmacs, go to the Options menu (on the menu bar) and go down to the
Size selection.  You should get a cascading menu with several radio
buttons with point sizes.  Near the Size menu are also a Font and Weight
cascading menus.   You will also find a Save Options menu select at the
very end of the Options menu.

You can also specify a font via the X11 properties facility that all X11
programs (are supposed to) follow.  Generally this involves editing your
.Xdefaults file.

>    * I guess the M in various control key combinations is intended to
> stand for the Meta key--is that the Alt key?  (or, are there
> variations--for me, assume a "standard" "Windows" keyboard)

Yes, the M prefix stands for Meta.  You can press the ESC key and then the
next key to get the Meta effect (e.g. press ESC, then "A" to get M-A).  If
your keyboard is configured properly, you should also be able to use the
ALT key as a shift key to get the Meta effect (e.g. press and hold ALT and
then press "A" to get M-A).  The ESC variation will always work, even on
straight ASCII terminals.

-- 
-- Jim Weirich     jim / weirichhouse.org    http://onestepback.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct,
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)