Why does Quicken not follow Windows Standards?

Dr. Bob

If a window won't fit it should have scroll bars. Some windows like bill reminders have trouble centering ... some resolutions shifted far right. Large fonts vs normal ... there is no in between. At some resolutions larger than the resolution warning by the way, you can't get to the bottom of the panel because the display doesn't fit and there is no scroll bar.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Dr. Bob,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community to tell us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

First, could you please provide which version of Quicken you have currently running?

• Help > About Quicken

If you haven't already, I recommend you try overriding the scaling for Quicken by following the steps below. Please, make sure Quicken is not open and running while performing these steps.

1. Right-click the Quicken icon on your desktop and select Open file location.
2. Right-click the qw.exe file and select Properties.
3. Select the Compatibility tab.
4. Click Change high DPI settings.
5. Check the box for Override high DPI scaling behavior and set the Scaling performed by to Application.
6. Click OK.

You can also try changing other settings in the Compatibility tab:

Before attempting these steps, be sure to make note of the settings you currently have selected. 

While in the Compatibility tab mentioned in the steps above, try unchecking all the boxes. If this doesn't resolve the issue, click the Change high DPI settings button and uncheck the boxes on that screen. 

Let us know how it goes!

Quicken Anja

Hello @Dr. Bob,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community to tell us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

First, could you please provide which version of Quicken you have currently running?

• Help > About Quicken

If you haven't already, I recommend you try overriding the scaling for Quicken by following the steps below. Please, make sure Quicken is not open and running while performing these steps.

1. Right-click the Quicken icon on your desktop and select Open file location.
2. Right-click the qw.exe file and select Properties.
3. Select the Compatibility tab.
4. Click Change high DPI settings.
5. Check the box for Override high DPI scaling behavior and set the Scaling performed by to Application.
6. Click OK.

You can also try changing other settings in the Compatibility tab:

Before attempting these steps, be sure to make note of the settings you currently have selected. 

While in the Compatibility tab mentioned in the steps above, try unchecking all the boxes. If this doesn't resolve the issue, click the Change high DPI settings button and uncheck the boxes on that screen. 

Let us know how it goes!

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Chris_QPW

From the screen shots it looks like you have both 125% Windows scaling and Use Large fonts on, with a resolution of 1920x1080.  If I'm correct about those settings it violates the minimum spec for using Quicken Windows.  And Quicken even warns about it even though the warning message is not stating it correctly.


From the display requirements.

What isn't stated here is that these numbers are for a Windows scaling 100%.

If we first take the Windows scaling of 125%, what that means is it is going to 25% more pixels to display the same text/images.  So you now need 1024 * 1.25 = 1280, and 768 * 1.25 = 960.  So far you are OK with 1920x1080.

But Use Large Fonts is also "windows scaling", but only for Quicken.  I have found it to be about 120%.  So if we now take 1280 * 1.2 = 1536, and 960 * 1.2 = 1152.

1152 is greater than your 1080, which explains why some of the fixed sized dialogs in Quicken don't fit.

Now that I have covered what you are doing wrong, I will comment on what Quicken Inc should look to improve, which is in line with what you were suggesting.  In the past with Intuit the general belief was "We we set a spec, and we test to that, and you are violating it, so tough, don't do that."   And as a programmer I can say that not having any specs and the user can "do anything" isn't workable.  If the user just makes everything too big you just can't do anything about it.  But I do believe that from what I have seen, there is somethings that Quicken developers could do to increase the use cases.

The first is exactly what @""Dr. Bob" suggested.  Fixed sized dialogs with no scroll bars are easy to program, but in this day and age only very small ones do this in a "good program".  Any good program should put in scroll bars for any dialog that is more than just a message.

The second part is again something that @""Dr. Bob" talked about, which in some part may be a lot harder to deal with, and in others maybe not so much.

What is going on for the Home tab/Update Status is that all of these "widgets" are dynamically sized, and clearly whatever is sizing them gets "confused" by multiple scaling of both Windows and Use Large Fonts.  This is a bug, and should be reported as such, but there is a more underline deficiency here.  For years people have been asking to be able to control the sizes of these widgets.  Whereas one user might want the accounts to take up half the space, another might want it to be full.  It has been suggested in the past, and I think it is something that can be done, it would be nice if the users could set say full, half, 1/4, like settings for these widgets.

Another place this comes up is on the Annual budget view.  If you look at this.


Notice that some of the month titles aren't being displayed, and non of the "BUDGET" text is fully displayed, but there is at least more space for the month titles that isn't being used.  One fix of course is to tweak the automatic sizing for the columns, but I think a much better approach would be to allow the user to resize columns as they see fit.

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Chris_QPW

I don't understand why your menus are cutoff and why the text is so pixelized.
Here is a screenshot of mine at 1920x1080, 125%, and Use Large Fonts.


And here is a comparison.  All of these have Large Fonts on (you can right click and open the image in another tab to see it full size).  Note this at my full resolution of 1920x1200, but this is just for comparing sizes)


The first is 100% Windows scaling.  Then next is 125% Windows scaling, but with the compatibility mode of Application.  It did just what I would expect and displays Quicken as if 100% Windows scaling was on.  The next is compatibility mode System, with 125% Windows scaling, and as you can see that doesn't affect Quicken, as is the same as the last one with 125% Windows scaling and compatibility off.

I'm also a bit confused.  If you like a Windows 125% scaling for all your other applications, why don't you just run Quicken the same way and not use the "Large Fonts"?

After all Windows 125% and "Use Large Fonts" are about the same amount of scaling.

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Chris_QPW

I'm seeing a difference, but not nearly as much as you. In fact what lines up for me is if you are comparing 125% Windows scaling with Large Fonts, and 100% with Large Fonts.


And I'm not seeing the clipping you are seeing on the system menu.  I have seen that in other people's screenshots, but I don't know what causes it.

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Chris_QPW

I never suggested that.  My question was if 125% works for all your other applications why doesn't 125% with normal fonts work with Quicken?

Quicken's normal fonts should be the same size as in any other application.  It is the "Large Fonts" that is unusual.  Unless maybe you are enlarging the fonts in the other applications too?

BTW just for the record, I use 5x reading glasses so that I can read my screens, and that is even on two 28" screens.  So I certainly don't have 20/20 eyes either.

At any rate I have no idea why your system menu is clipped.
And at this current time I don't see any way that you are going to be able to see the complete dialog for dialogs like the One Setup Update dialog when you are running 1920x1080, with 125% Windows scaling, and Large Fonts because doesn't meet the spec to what they have said Quicken will work with.

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