I've been using Macromedia MX for some time at 1024 x 768 resolution on my Win XP Home-based desktop. Today my new laptop arrived (same operating system) but
with a 1680 x 1050 standard resolution. I loaded the MX products no problem,
and all are working fine except for one thing that is consistent across all of the MX products:
I can see the top menus fine but the text inside any of the panels (and the
timelines) is illegible. It is so very small!

I have tried changing the laptop's resolution to 1024x768 but the problem
stays the same. There is no way I can use any of these tools without being able to read properties and other panels and I have not changed operating systems, so I don't know how to fix this problem.

Does anyone know how to address this problem?

have you tried going to your desktop and right click your mouse to get properties and select appearance. there you will have the option to set fonts normal or large size. perhaps it will work.