Greetings, I had the same problem and solved it this way:
Installed a Named Instance of SQL Express 2005
Installed the StrataFrame databases onto it.
Changed the Database Connections of StrataFrame design-time to point to the new SQL 2005 instance.
Now the Solutions Preferences is working on every licensed machine,and we're able to setup the projetc's localization, security, etc...
The solutions databases still reside on our main SQL Server 2000 instance.

Best regards to all.

Alex Lana
 

Just FYI, there is no need to cross post.  We monitor all forums.  Thanks.

http://forum.strataframe.net/FindPost11481.aspx