[XeTeX] Fake old-style figures & small-caps with XeTeX?

[Arthur Reutenauer]

>> The point is that TeX fonts can only have 128 code points. (Virtual fonts can have up to twice as much, but are not supported in XeTeX.)
> 
> This was once true but has not been true for some time, has it?

  Indeed, since the Fall of the Berlin Wall (I mean it literally—TeX has been able to use the full range of 256 8-bit byte values since TeX 3 was released in 1989).

> It is possible to use T1 with Latin Modern, for example, although this does
> not use virtual fonts and T1 contains 256 slots.

  Right, again.  Note that while Latin Modern is a rather recent effort, TeX has been able to handle fonts containing 256 slots for over twenty years.  For a long while, it was necessary to resort to dirty tricks and awkward kludges because of the lack of appropriate fonts, but that was not related to TeX proper.

> Or is it that this requires eTeX (vs TeX)?

  No.  TeX 3 is enough.

    Arthur