Experimented further with a few legacy applications and these were my findings :

- Retina Off/3D Off, applications most responsive but overall experience feels retro - Windows 11 jerky and graphics not crisp.

- Retina On/3D Off - best compromise.

- Applications may be individually tuned further.  In this case : turned on Windows 8 Compatibility, DPI settings managed by System and Safe Emulation.  This combination seems to work best.

Your mileage may vary.  Have a good weekend.