What surprises me the most is that something so obvious was missed over and
over again with every release of Windows - will Vista fix this?
Finally, Vista addresses some of this. It's not perfect but it's much
better than it has been in previous versions of Windows.
General: The operating system cannot address all issues since it's possible
for an individual app to dictate the maximum size of message windows and
other interface elements (text size, text type) spawned by that app. Vista
has made message boxes scalable for apps that make generic use of the
common dialog controls (and some other shared code). However, some
programmers get "creative" in this area or fail to consider all scenarios.
The results - you are already familiar with them - can be less than what is
needed by the end user.
Nowadays with larger monitors, it is not only visually challenged users
that need "elasticity" in this area. Even folks with good eyesight get
tired of squinting. Here's hoping that all programmers - for Windows and
for applications - strive to be more aware of these issues,