As the fog clears and the sun comes up...

I should have mentioned in my rantings above that there is a pretty good "PostScript" file reader called GhostView or, for Windows, GSView, that has been around for quite a while. It would let you look at PostScript files, although you still need a PostScript capable printer to print them. There are some associated conversion programs; but I haven't really looked at them, since I have the printer.

I don't know whether you can still download the programs as trial/shareware, but I believe that was the case a while back. The problem with the shareware version is that the manual may be rather terse.
The program is good enought that I recently paid the $50 (US) to get the whole works on CD. Came from Australia on a slow tanker, but I'm glad I've got it.

Be advised that this was (I think) originally a Unix developed program, and like many similar programs, it tends to be DOSSY (A term that insults practically everybody, but just means that the people who wrote it are "command line oriented.") Setup can be a bit frustrating, mainly with respect to getting everything into the right directory/subdirectory locations. I have not found a PS based file yet that it won't open though. (This includes PDF files, which are PostScript based.)

The curious and brave may look at GSView

John