OS X User Interface Scaling

Hi all,

I've searched quite a bit and have not been able to find an exact solution to the issue that many seem to have with their higher-resolution displays - that the whole user interface is just too darn small.

After just buying a 17" MBP, I love it aside from the fact that it feels like it is already contributing to early macular degeneration in my young eyes.

I have been "command + plus"ing every website I visit in Safari, and while this does the trick for web pages, the rest of the system is obviously still tiny. Mail is downright unusable, overall.

One trick I found on the web is from a few years ago and not especially for Lion, and I have yet to try it as I am at away from the Mac right now. It involves typing "defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleDisplayScaleFactor 1" in the terminal, replacing "1" with the value of the desired UI scale. So I may try 1.25 or 1.4, if this trick indeed applies to Lion...

Any other suggestions? Aside from visiting Cupertino and complaining?