The calculator can be downloaded as a portable version or installer for most Windows operating systems including Windows XP and Windows Vista with the likelihood that it will also work fine in Windows 7.

The calculator presents itself in a very compact interface. This can be a bit problematic for new users who are looking for a specific feature or function. Some buttons change parts of the interface completely. Pressing the buttons 1-5 that are displayed in the middle of the calculator will for instance change the operations and functions in the lower left half completely. One interesting option is the ability to add, move or remove new operations and functions from that part of the calculator. That’s excellent for users who regularly work with a specific set of operators and functions to access them directly without having to change the interface. It is furthermore possible to add new functions and operators that can then be added to the interface.

The unit and currency converter are accessible from the top menu. Everything can also be accessed by using keyboard shortcuts. Hexelon Max Calculator is a well thought out calculator that’s perfect for users who want to customize the calculators interface to suite their specific needs.

The calculator comes with a math book, constants, functions, permanent variables and a history feature. One of the interesting features is syntax highlighting. SpeedCrunch will display the calculation in various colors which makes it easier to check the equation.

Another helpful function is auto completion which will display matching functions, constants or variables.

SpeedCrunch supports more than a dozen languages and can be downloaded right from the developer’s website.

Microsoft does not offer a way to change the display of the Windows Calculator or adjust the font size automatically depending on the screen resolution of the computer which means that we, once again, have to rely on third party tools to change a default Windows application so that we can work with it.

You do need a software called Resource Hacker for this, the link is at the end of this article. Unpack Resource Hacker and start ResHacker.exe. Now click on File > Open and browse to C:\Windows\System32 and open calc.exe.

Now browse to the entry 101 and click on the child 1033 (1033 can be another value on your computer, it should display only one entry, click on that). You see many lines of code on the right window including the one important for us: FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg"

You increase the font size by simply changing the 8 to another number. My suggestion would be to change it to 10 or 12. Click on Compile Script afterwards and you should see the changes immediately in the preview window.

Do the same for the entry 102, 1033. One is changing the scientific calculator while the other is changing the normal calculator.

Before:

After:

As you can see this makes a huge difference. Now save the new calculator using the Save As dialog, name it calc1.exe for instance. Please note that you can’t replace the original calculator from within the software because it is system protected.

The best option in my experience would be to change the shortcut in the start menu to point to the new calculator. Just right-click the shortcut, select properties and change the path under Target accordingly. If you saved it as calc1.exe for instance which was saved to system32 you simply add the char 1 to the path.

I have not found a way to replace the system calculator with the newly created one. If anyone has experience in that matter contact me please.

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Resource Hacker