TheGeneralGER: Hi everybody,
I'm not sure if this is still relevant for somebody, but I've recently tried to get some old games running on windows 10, including Anno 1503.
I tried the solutions here but I still experienced a relatively low frame rate, especially when playing in 1280x1024 resolution.

I think I found a solution for it though that I wanted to share :)
For another old game (Star Trek Birth of the federation) there is a tool called "DxWnd", I'm not really sure what it specifially does but I assume it's some kind of DirectX Emulation.
Since I had it for that other game already, I just put the Anno1503startup.exe in it and left all the settings as they were and it works perfectly fine without any lag on the highest resolution :)

Here a quick guide on what I did:
1. I downloaded the dxwnd_fullscreen.zip here (at the end of the first post, scroll down a little):
*Hmm I cannot post a link, just add www. to it...:*
armadafleetcommand.com/onscreen/botf/viewtopic.php?t=3179
2. I extracted it to my Anno 1503 installation folder, so there is a new folder named "dxwnd Fullscreen" in it. I guess the location doesn't really matter.
3. I started the dxwnd.exe that is in that folder.
4. There is a long list of settings in it already for that other game, i just right-clicked the top one (Birth of the Federation) and selected "modify".
5. I changed the Name to "Anno 1503"(optional) and Path and Launch to "InstallationDirOfAnno1503\1503Startup.exe" (see image)
6. I left all the other settings as they were and clicked "OK".
7. I right-clicked the just modified entry and selected "run".

That's it :) I changed the resolution in-game to 1280x1024 and it works fine without lags

8. When closing dxwnd you should click "yes" to save the modifications you made. You'll have to run it through that tool every time so you might consider creating a short cut.

Maybe this helps somebody :)

My system for reference:
I used the Anno 1503 "Königsedition" DVD I bought a few years ago, not the GOG version, I hope it works with it as well.
Windows 10 64bits
AMD FX-4100
8GB DDR3
AMD R7 260X

Good luck and god bless :)

TheGeneralGER: Hi everybody,
I'm not sure if this is still relevant for somebody, but I've recently tried to get some old games running on windows 10, including Anno 1503.
I tried the solutions here but I still experienced a relatively low frame rate, especially when playing in 1280x1024 resolution.

I think I found a solution for it though that I wanted to share :)
For another old game (Star Trek Birth of the federation) there is a tool called "DxWnd", I'm not really sure what it specifially does but I assume it's some kind of DirectX Emulation.
Since I had it for that other game already, I just put the Anno1503startup.exe in it and left all the settings as they were and it works perfectly fine without any lag on the highest resolution :)

Here a quick guide on what I did:
1. I downloaded the dxwnd_fullscreen.zip here (at the end of the first post, scroll down a little):
*Hmm I cannot post a link, just add www. to it...:*
armadafleetcommand.com/onscreen/botf/viewtopic.php?t=3179
2. I extracted it to my Anno 1503 installation folder, so there is a new folder named "dxwnd Fullscreen" in it. I guess the location doesn't really matter.
3. I started the dxwnd.exe that is in that folder.
4. There is a long list of settings in it already for that other game, i just right-clicked the top one (Birth of the Federation) and selected "modify".
5. I changed the Name to "Anno 1503"(optional) and Path and Launch to "InstallationDirOfAnno1503\1503Startup.exe" (see image)
6. I left all the other settings as they were and clicked "OK".
7. I right-clicked the just modified entry and selected "run".

That's it :) I changed the resolution in-game to 1280x1024 and it works fine without lags

8. When closing dxwnd you should click "yes" to save the modifications you made. You'll have to run it through that tool every time so you might consider creating a short cut.

Maybe this helps somebody :)

My system for reference:
I used the Anno 1503 "Königsedition" DVD I bought a few years ago, not the GOG version, I hope it works with it as well.
Windows 10 64bits
AMD FX-4100
8GB DDR3
AMD R7 260X

Good luck and god bless :)