Hit the setup button instead of play.
Under the resolution selection you will find "windowed".
Basically, copy the fighter component, and tweak it to launch a different object.
For example, changing the "terran fighter" component to say:
Space Object XFile Name := Terran Battleship
Well, I succeeded in getting things to work. Sort of. Abbadon fridates work just fine...but I think there might be like a Terran Frigate1 and 2. That would explain why nothing launches when I order terran frigates to launch. Fun stuff. I also got preliminary GRasers and counter missiles working. It looks nice so far...