You mentioned a graphical front-end, I used one called Boxer for DOSBox that seemed quite user-friendly. I actually have quite a bit of experience with DOS, but that was many years ago, so I liked the Windows interface, it also allows you to type in your auto-exec commands and save them so they run when you click the icon (i.e. changing to the right directory and running Orion). The link for Boxer is:
http://www.pcgamester.co.uk/
There is also a link from the DosBox forum. It works great on my 1.4Mhz XP machine at home, including sound and music, with minimal skipping on the music.
I have also gotten it running (finally) on an older Win98 machine, but only by cannibalizing a Windows boot disk, then copying things like mouse.com and emm386 onto the floppy. Took several abortive attempts, but now it works fine. Can't get the sound working yet, but that may be an issue with my old, non-standard sound card. Other than sound, though, the game runs smooth.
Hopefully the Boxer would make it easier for those new to DosBox, it did for me (never heard of it before this thread). If you need any help with the Win98 part also, let me know.
Justus II
