At first I thought it might be a case of a 2d overlay stretching to fit the widescreen resolution. I based this on a comment I found online:
The HUD generally remains as it is, except for the middle bottom part, which becomes larger fit the screen size. This can cause tables to become rather spacious, making it difficult to combine the explanation with the numbers, due to the large space between them (e.g. Population: *large space* 14000

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Looking at it now, I can see how this might be the case, though everything else (as you mentioned) seems to scale well. In either case, I'd like to respectfully put in a suggestion for a text-enlargement option in any future patches, revisions or sequels, ala Neverwinter Nights. It would be much appreciated.
Also, on a slightly unrelated note, are there any "very" basic beginner tutorials out there (aside from the beginner's strategy guide and manual) for people like me who played about 20 minutes of Civ II back in the 90's.

My first brush with Sword of the Stars was a mess, but today I actually followed the beginners tutorial section, and found it to be quite helpful. Within about 30 minutes I was already starting to enjoy the game. Anything like that for GC II?