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Feature Comparison: Windows HyperTerminal
Kermit 95 still runs everywhere that Windows HyperTerminal does (Windows 95 to XP), and while HyperTerm doesn't seem to have evolved much through the various Windows releases that include it, Kermit 95 has. So it seems worthwhile to update the old Kermit 95/HyperTerminal feature comparison from December 1995 to include the current version of Kermit 95. There probably were a few HyperTerminal enhancements over the years even if it doesn't appear to have visually changed (like telnet support in Windows 98) - if you know of anything that should be updated start a discussion or log a bug.
Note that this is not a comparison against Hilgraeves current HyperTerminal or HyperACCESS products which support more features than Windows HyperTerminal did.
The original performance comparisons of HyperTerminal and K95 v1.1 were done on an IBM PC 750-P90 with Windows 95 and a USR Sportster V.34 external modem connected to a 16550A buffered UART at 57600 bps with RTS/CTS flow control, over a 28800-bps V.34 connection. On the other end were US Robotics V.34 rack-mount modems connected to a Cisco ASM3 terminal server, and from there a TELNET connection over a local Ethernet to a Sun SparcServer 10. I've not attempted to do any benchmarks for K95 v3.0 but the performance should the same as, if not better than, K95 v1.1.
| HyperTerminal | Kermit 95 1.1 | Kermit 95 3.0 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 82K ripple test | 16 sec | 15 sec | |
| Scrollback | 500 lines max | As much as you want | As much as you want |
| Attributes preserved | No | Yes | Yes |
| Key mapping | None | More than you'll ever need | More than you'll ever need |
| Selectable Colors | No | Fore and Background and more | Fore and Background and more |
| Emulations | ANSI | ANSI | ANSI |
| TTY | TTY | TTY | |
| Minitel | VT52 | VT52 | |
| Viewdata | VT100 | VT100 | |
| VT52 | VT102 | VT102 | |
| VT100 | VT220 | VT220 | |
| VT320 | VT320 | ||
| Plus 30 additional emulations including ADM3A, ADM5, DG210, TVI910+, TVI925, TVI950, Wyse 50/60/160/370, ScoAnsi | |||
| BBS colors | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BBS "ANSI art" | Yes (See note 3) | Yes | Yes |
| Selectable heights | No | Yes | Yes |
| 132 columns | Yes (See note 1) | Yes (See note 1) | Yes, up to 256 columns (512 on modern PCs). Issues in note 1 no longer apply in K95G. |
| Reverse | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bold | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Underline | Yes | Yes (simulated with distinct colors) | Yes |
| Blink | Yes | Yes (simulated with distinct colors) | Yes |
| VT box drawing | Yes (See note 3) | Yes | Yes |
| Double-width | Yes (buggy) | Yes (simulated) | Yes |
| Double-height | Yes (buggy) | Yes (simulated) | Yes |
| Arrow key modes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Numeric Keypad modes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Can send all Ctrls | No | Yes | Yes |
| Can send Break | No | Yes | Yes |
| Newline mode | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reports | Some | All | All |
| vttest | (See note 2) | Passes all tests | |
| Esc seq debugging | No | Yes | Yes |
| Printing | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reset terminal | No | Yes | Yes |
| Scripting | No | Yes | Yes |
| Character sets | No (5) | Yes, more than 30 selectable | Yes, more than 90 selectable including Utf8 on Windows NT |
| Compose key | No | Yes | Yes |
| Telnet capability | Yes (as of Windows 98) | Yes | Yes |
| File transfers | XYZMODEM, Kermit, Capture/Log/Paste | Kermit, XYZMODEM, Capture/Log/Paste/Transmit | Kermit, XYZMODEM, Capture/Log/Paste/Transmit, FTP, HTTP |
| Kermit Text file: | 557 cps (4) | 5573 cps | |
| Kermit ZIP file: | 453 cps (4) | 3206 cps | |
| Zmodem Text file: | 5148 cps (4) | 5461 cps | |
| Zmodem ZIP file: | 3241 cps (4) | 3263 cps | |
| Autodownload: | Zmodem only | Zmodem and Kermit | |
| Batch uploads: | No | Yes (except XMODEM of course) | |
| Recovery: | No (5) | Yes, Kermit and Zmodem | |
| Redial | No (5) | Yes | Yes |
| Dial network modem: | No | Yes | Yes |
| Long file names: | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs in Windows NT: | Yes (NT 4.0/2000/XP) | Yes | Yes, NT 3.51+ on all architectures (ARM64, x86-64, Itanium, x86, Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC) |
Note 1: There is a bug in Windows 95 that prevents use of colors and attributes in a wide console screen. Kermit 95 fully supports 80/132 column selection and automatic mode switching, but wide screens are shown in black and white to sidestep the Windows 95 bug. When the Windows 95 bug is fixed, Kermit 95 can be told to write full attributes into wide screens. In HyperTerminal, 132 column mode is simulated by horizontal scrolling.
Note 2: HyperTerminal fails about 25% of the tests when in VT100 mode using the default font. If you find the right font, it passes most of the tests, except that the double width / double height display is consistently fractured.
Note 3: In VT100 mode, HyperTerminal simply does not display any characters other than ASCII unless the default font is changed. In ANSI mode, HyperTerminal displays accented letters instead of ANSI graphic characters unless you change the font.
Note 4: HyperTerminal includes no protocol controls at all, including no text/binary mode selection, nor packet-length, window size, etc. Thus text files are transferred in binary mode. Only a minimalistic Kermit protocol implementation is available.
Note 5: These features added in "HyperTerminal Personal Edition", which is not distributed with Windows 95, but which is available from Hilgraeve. Recovery applies to ZMODEM only; redial is all-or-nothing (no controls); character-set capability is limited.