Font sizes are microscopic

The font sizes in MS Money 2005 are microscopic on my
screen (i.e. I can't read any text in the program unless I
put my face three inches in front of the screen)! I use a
21" monitor at 1600x1200 resolution. I looked through all
the options but found no place to change the font size or
font family.

I just read in the FAQ and in an MS Support page that this
appears to be by design. Lowering my display resolution
or using the "Large Fonts" setting in Display Properties
are unacceptable "solutions" for me.

This behavior of MS Money is unbelievable to me. Does MS
think that no one uses display resolutions above 1024x768?

And it seems ironic to me that MS Money has a web-browser-
like user interface. One of the fundamental benefits of
using web browsers is supposed to be "display
independence". That is, each user should (at least) be
able to change the font size to match his computing device
(whether it be a desktop or a PDA).

According to the MS Support page, MS Money has had this
limitation for several years. I am just so completely
shocked that a modern application like this written by
Microsoft provides no good way for people to adjust the
font sizes.

I've been using Quicken for nine years. I wanted to see
how MS Money compared, but as long as this limitation
exists, I have to stay with Quicken.

Astonishing! :-)

Pete
Mon Sep 20 00:00:25 CDT 2004

1) I just tested making fonts bigger using Windows'
Display settings. It affected menus and such in all of my
applications, but it didn't change the text size in MS
Money. So, it appears that there is only one "solution" --
using a display resolution of about 1024x768 or less.

2) It wouldn't be quite as bad if I could choose my own
colors. On the Home Page, for example, they're using a
dark-blue font on a medium-blue background. This doesn't
give enough contrast. It should be a white background or,
better yet, let me choose. According to the help file,
you can change the color schemes in "Tools > Settings >
Program Settings". However, when I go there, I see no
option to change the colors.

via_newsgroup
Mon Sep 20 00:49:43 CDT 2004

In microsoft.public.money, Pete wrote:

>1) I just tested making fonts bigger using Windows'
>Display settings. It affected menus and such in all of my
>applications, but it didn't change the text size in MS
>Money. So, it appears that there is only one "solution" --
> using a display resolution of about 1024x768 or less.


On a blank spot on the desktop, right click and choose
Properties->Settings->Advanced change the DPI setting to a higher
number. This will have some downside too. You will have to
experiment, and change back if you find the downside to outweigh
the upside.

Dick
Mon Sep 20 07:34:07 CDT 2004

The resolution you use is irrelevant. The size of display you scatter that
resolution across is everything.

"Pete" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:29a401c49eb9$cdb97bc0$a301280a@phx.gbl...
> This behavior of MS Money is unbelievable to me. Does MS
> think that no one uses display resolutions above 1024x768?

Pete
Tue Sep 21 01:17:10 CDT 2004

Thanks for the correction, Cal. I had mistakenly changed
the system-wide font size instead of the DPI setting.

Regardless, though, I do not want to change my DPI setting
for just one application, but thanks again for the
assistance.

Pete
Tue Sep 21 01:36:26 CDT 2004

Dick Watson wrote:
>The resolution you use is irrelevant. The size of display
>you scatter that resolution across is everything.

Thanks for the feedback, Dick. I think that I understand
your point, and I agree with you in that regard.

The thing is, the combination of 1600x1200 resolution on
my 21" monitor works fine with most of the applications
that I use (including several from Microsoft) -- I can
easily read all of the text. MS Money 2005 is one of the
few applications that I've encountered (so far) whose
default font size is too small for my setup and doesn't
have a (good) way to change it.

I suppose that I could have been more diplomatic with my
original post. The bottom line for me, though, is that I
hope that MS will address this (at some point in time) and
although it might sound like I'm just complaining, I'm
actually hoping that someone from MS will read this and do
something about it. Fat chance, I suppose.

Dick
Tue Sep 21 07:14:53 CDT 2004

Font size has been an issue for many people in Money for some time. Given
the attention Microsoft pays to accessibility in other apps, their ignorance
of it in Money is somewhat of a surprise. But I'd be careful what you ask
for. If they work it, they'll no doubt fix the size of all of the geegaw
around the register, say, and let the register take whatever's left. The
good news is the related links section for finding a great car loan deal
will take 2/3 of your screen. The bad news is that the transaction will only
show the first two digits of the number, four characters of the payee, and
only one transaction at a time.

"Pete" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:06aa01c49fa5$51bdccf0$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> Thanks for the feedback, Dick. I think that I understand
> your point, and I agree with you in that regard.
>
> The thing is, the combination of 1600x1200 resolution on
> my 21" monitor works fine with most of the applications
> that I use (including several from Microsoft) -- I can
> easily read all of the text. MS Money 2005 is one of the
> few applications that I've encountered (so far) whose
> default font size is too small for my setup and doesn't
> have a (good) way to change it.
>
> I suppose that I could have been more diplomatic with my
> original post. The bottom line for me, though, is that I
> hope that MS will address this (at some point in time) and
> although it might sound like I'm just complaining, I'm
> actually hoping that someone from MS will read this and do
> something about it. Fat chance, I suppose.

Pete
Fri Sep 24 14:50:11 CDT 2004

To be fair, I'm posting this to say that I just installed
Quicken 2005. It's default font size is the same as
Money's. The only advantages that Quicken has in this
regard are (1) it uses white backgrounds and, while I
generally don't like white backgrounds, it does give more
contrast and makes the text easier to read, and (2) it
allows me to change the font size in the account registers
(only).

Since I'm new to MS Money, I've decided to keep both
programs and manage my finances in both of them for a
while, side-by-side. I think that this is the only way
that I can determine which one I like better.

For what it's worth, I've submitted feedback regarding the
small font sizes to both companies.

>-----Original Message-----
>The font sizes in MS Money 2005 are microscopic on my
>screen (i.e. I can't read any text in the program unless
I
>put my face three inches in front of the screen)! I use
a
>21" monitor at 1600x1200 resolution.

avin
Sun Jan 09 13:44:27 CST 2005

I'm having the same problem. I've just loaded the 2005 trial and I'll
have to give it up! The accessibility options of IE don't help! And
changing the DPI is not an option for me - I've just set it back to
100% a few days ago (and reduced the resolution to 1024x768 because
working with higher DPI caused no end of problems.

How can they provide such microscopic fonts? I thought accessibility
support was mandatory! It's ridiculous!

Dick
Sun Jan 09 15:20:42 CST 2005

Money ignores accessibility issues. Sad, but apparently most users prefer it
this way.

<avin@bezeqint.net> wrote in message
news:1105299867.007510.158910@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> I'm having the same problem. I've just loaded the 2005 trial and I'll
> have to give it up! The accessibility options of IE don't help! And
> changing the DPI is not an option for me - I've just set it back to
> 100% a few days ago (and reduced the resolution to 1024x768 because
> working with higher DPI caused no end of problems.
>
> How can they provide such microscopic fonts? I thought accessibility
> support was mandatory! It's ridiculous!
>